Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 2ND​

Divine Limitation​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 2:1-8

But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face. The LORD said to Satan, Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.
Job 2:5-6

Once again there is a divine limitation to Satan's power, but this time God moves the boundaries closer. He says, You can touch him. In fact, when Satan uses the phrase, strike his flesh and bones, he asks for access to the total humanity of Job. We still use that phrase today to speak of the totality of our humanity—not only our physical body but also our emotional life, our conscious and subconscious thinking and reacting, and our soul and spirit. Satan is asking for access to Job to touch him in body, soul, and spirit—and he proceeds in that order. He thinks that if he can get at Job in every part of his being, he can shake Job's faith and cause him to turn from his trust and confidence in God and curse Him to His face.

Once when I finished preaching a message on the first chapter of Job, two young men came up and challenged me. They would not accept the story of Job as an historical event, and they could not believe there ever was a man named Job who endured so many trials. I asked them why not. Their reply was, If that story is true, then God is unconcerned about human life. It pictures God as ruthless. Job's whole family was taken from him. We can't accept this as historical record. In talking with them, I realized that they were struggling with the same feelings that many people struggle with today. They see God as nothing more than a being who thinks and acts and has no more rights than a man. They thought that if a man dealt with another person as God dealt with Job, he would be justifiably charged with murder and cruelty. It did not occur to them that God could not be charged with these things, because in His hand is all of life. He determines the length of life for everyone.

That is why we have the book of Job, to show us that there are reasons for and purposes in these trials and sufferings that we do not see. Job could not see what was going on behind the scenes, and neither can we. And yet God knows. He has a purpose, and it is a proper and right purpose that will end up manifesting more fully the love and compassion of His heart. The test of every trial is always to this end.

Father, I see something of the pain and tears with which life can confront me, yet I will still be in Your will and Your hand, guarded and guided by Your love.

​

Life Application​

Sometimes the pressures of life threaten to crush us. Are we willing to let God be God? Are we learning to trust in His perfect will and timeless wisdom?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 3RD​

Accepting What God Gives​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 2:9-13

He replied, You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Job 2:10

Job's rebuke is a very gentle one. He did not say, You foolish woman! He said, You are talking like a foolish woman. He is not attacking her; rather, he is suggesting that this is a temporary lapse of faith on her part and that, for the moment, she has begun to repeat the words of stupid, foolish women who have no knowledge of the grace and glory of God. In that gentle rebuke you can see something of the sturdiness and tenderness of Job's faith. In this great sentence, he again reasserts the sovereignty of God: Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? Job's wife had the philosophy that life ought to be pleasant, and if it were not, there was no use living it.

That philosophy is widespread in our own day, and a mounting suicide rate testifies to the universal acceptance of it. But this book is given to show us that life is not to be lived on those terms. The reason we are here is not necessarily to have a good time. There are meaningful objectives to be attained in life, even when it all turns sour. When the pressure comes, when living is no longer fun, life is still worth living. A philosophy that wants to abandon everything as soon as things become unpleasant is a shallow, mistaken, distorted view of life. Job reaffirms that. Shall we not take both good and evil from the hand of God? We take His joy and His pleasure, the pleasant things of life, with gladness and gratitude. If God chooses to send something that is difficult, shall we then abandon that gratitude and begin to curse Him in protest because life is suddenly different than we thought it would be? The reason we are here is not merely that we might have a good time, and this is taught everywhere in the Scriptures. God, in His grace and glory, does give us many hours of joy and gladness and pleasure and delight, and it is right for us to give thanks. But do not abandon that when the time of pressure comes, because that is what Satan wants us to do. He wants us to begin to complain and protest to God; to get upset and angry and resentful; to stop going to church or to reading the Bible. That is what Satan's whole attack on our lives is aimed at doing.

Father, strengthen my faith in You, that I can accept from Your hand both good and evil. Thank You that Your purposes for me, though sometimes painful, are always good.

​

Life Application​

Sometimes meaning and purpose for our lives gets out of focus. Do we then give in to despair? When we choose to trust God, then we can offer His comfort to others.

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 4TH​

Is It Better To Die?​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 3

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
Job 3:1

In this chapter we find that Job asks three very poignant questions. The first one is, Why was I ever born? Job hopes his birthday will be forgotten. He is looking back to the day of his birth, and, although he cannot change it, he is saying, May its anniversary be ignored. Let it be a day that is darkened; let no one rejoice in it. Let it be a day of cursing instead of blessing. The reason for Job's outcry is this was the day he was born, the day that produced him. You can see at this point how his life has become so miserable that he longs for death. Even all that he has enjoyed in the past seems of no value in the face of this tremendous anguish that he must endure.

Although Job comes very close to cursing God, he never does. He does curse the day of his birth, and he curses what God has allowed to happen. You can see how the pressure is increasing, and Job is beginning to break and crumble under it, as this unceasing, unexplained anguish goes on.

I do not think anything is harder for us to bear than unexplained trouble. If we could see some reason for what we have to go through, we could endure it much more easily. But when trouble seems to be pointless, it is a terrible strain on the soul. This is what Job is experiencing, so he cries out, Why was I ever born?

His second question is, Having been born, why didn't I die at birth? He says, My life has been totally meaningless. It would have been better to have died when I was born. Job views death as a time of rest, a period of solitude and quiet after the tumult and trouble of life. I think many people see death that way. These verses indicate that Job's understanding of life after death needs to be enlightened a great deal, and that is one of the reasons this suffering came into his life. At the end of the book, Job's view of death is quite different than it was at the beginning.
Job's third question is, Why can't I die now? Job's argument is, What's the purpose of my life? Of what use is a life that is so filled with misery that you can do nothing but suffer and feel anguish? My life produces only fear and trouble, so it would be better to end it now. Many people feel that way. I do not think Job is thinking of suicide--he is asking God to take him home. There is no purpose to life, he says, when it is not enjoyable. That is a very common argument, and one of the reasons we have been given this book is to help us understand that life can still have a great deal of meaning, even when it looks absolutely useless.

I thank You, Lord, that though I can't always see the reason for my suffering, You are at work through it.

​

Life Application​

Do we see our lives as giving us the right to demand our own self-centered agenda, or do we receive Life thankfully, as a gift? How do we bear unexplained trouble?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 5TH​

When The Righteous Suffer​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 4-5

Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
Job 4:7-8

At this point we get the first of the replies of Job's three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. These friends all come with the same solution to the problem, but they approach it in three distinct ways, according to their personalities. As I considered their responses, I dubbed them in terms that describe the approach each takes: Eliphaz the Elegant, Bildad the Brutal, and Zophar the Zealous.

Eliphaz is the first speaker, evidently the oldest, for there is a smoothness about him and a courtesy (at least at the beginning) that indicates that he has learned to say unpleasant things in gracious ways. His argument is this: The righteous are never punished; only the unrighteous suffer. Where did you ever see an innocent man perish? he asks Job. Where did you ever see an unrighteous man succeed? His argument is, clearly, that Job's problem is caused by his own willful sin, something that Job is hiding. And this will be the basic argument all through the book: There is something wrong, Job. If you will only admit it, you'll be all right.

I remember years ago picking up a Christian magazine that specialized in attacking men in public ministry, such as Billy Graham. The editor of the magazine said of Dr. Graham, who had just had a certain illness, that it was a judgment of God on him because he associated with the wrong kinds of people. But what fascinated me was that in the next issue the editor announced that he himself had fallen and broken his leg! His explanation was that Satan was attacking him, trying to stop his God-given ministry! This is so characteristic of humanity. We all see clearly that the suffering of others is caused by their sin, while our suffering is always caused by something else.

Eliphaz argues that if you just cast yourself on God's mercy, He will forgive you and restore you, and everything will be fine. You can be confident that you will be protected and kept, even to a ripe old age. Of course this is not the truth. Anyone who has lived a few years at all knows that you can find godly people who are not protected from troubles and who still go through times of trial and peril and suffering. Though his arguments sound like good theology, Eliphaz does not take in all the facts. That is why Job is given to us, that we might learn to correct our theology and to understand that sin is not the only reason for suffering.

Father, thank You for the sufferings of Job. Help me to view my own sufferings in the light of the revelation of this book. Grant to me Lord, strength to stand in the midst of pressure.

​

Life Application​

Suffering is both universal and personal. When we meet this reality, where do we go for understanding? Do we have godly wisdom to offer others in their time of trial?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 6TH​

Lord, Leave Me Alone!​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 6-7

Let me alone; my days have no meaning.
Job 7:16b

Job turns to God and complains about the difficulty of his present experience. He has given up. He thinks he will never see any relief and that he will go on like this to the end. And out of that meaningless suffering and hopeless darkness, he cries out in honest despair.

Have you ever felt that way? Lord, leave me alone. I've had enough! Why are You so intent on making life miserable for me? Why don't You just let me go? Job cries out in baffled bewilderment. Now, even at this point in the book, there are some things that we must constantly remember. One is that we know something about this scene that Job does not know. We see some purpose in this that he has not yet seen that is also true about the sufferings we go through. In every time of trial there are two purposes in view: Satan has his purpose, and God has His.

Satan's purpose here was to use the pain of Job's illness to afflict his body; to use the priggish, well-intentioned comfort of his friends to irritate his soul; and to use the silence of God to assault his spirit and break his faith. But God's purpose is to teach Job some truths that he never knew before, to deepen his theology and help him understand God much better. God's truth was to answer Satan in the eyes of all the principalities and powers of the whole universe and to prove him wrong in his philosophy of life. God's purpose was also to provide a demonstration for all sufferers in all the ages that would follow that He knows what He is doing. As the book of Job unfolds, we will see how this is gradually brought to light.

What an encouragement to those of us who must go through some times of suffering to understand that it is not always because we are sinful. Sometimes suffering is the result of our sin, and we will know it when it is. But if, like Job, you know of nothing you have done that you have not dealt with and still the suffering goes on, look behind the curtain of God's purposes, and you will see that great and eternal events are hanging upon the outcome of the struggle.

Our Father, what marvelous lessons Job's sufferings teach me about my own sufferings. Help me to know more truth than Job knew and, therefore, realize that I have far less reason to give up than he did.

​

Life Application​

When pressures in life become unbearable, do we collapse into despair, or do we choose to trust God's wisdom, and put all that we have and are into His hands?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Johann]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JULY 18TH​

God's Vineyard​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOHN 15:1-3


Chapters 15 through 17 occurred as the Lord and His disciples were walking on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. On the way they passed through the vineyards that surrounded the city. Perhaps Jesus stopped in the midst of a vineyard, took a vine, and used it as a means of illustrating to His disciples the great secret He had been seeking to impart to them in His whole discourse there in the upper room, the most fundamental and basic secret of Christian life--I am in the Father, and ... the Father is in me (John 14:10).

His beautiful analogy has helped many Christians understand the relationship God wants them to know. When He said, I am the true vine, He did not mean true in contrast with something false, but rather real, genuine, as opposed to the mere copy or symbol. As He held this vine and its branches in His hand, He indicated that this was the copy. He was the true vine from which true life is received.

The purpose of this vine is to bring forth fruit. A vineyard is planted not for ornamentation, but to produce grapes, to bear fruit. This is the point our Lord makes in the story. All through this account His emphasis is upon the fruit. So the question arises, What does this fruit stand for in our life?
Some people who read this and understand the fruit to be others won to Christ. How that can be deduced from this parable is difficult to understand, because there is nothing in it that suggests that at all. Fruit is that which is produced by the vine and is the natural outflow of the life of the vine. Though it is wonderful when a Christian has the privilege of leading others to Christ, it is no indication of fruitlessness if you never have had this experience.

The figure of the vine is used many times in the Scriptures. These disciples would immediately think of several places where it was used. One is in Isaiah 5: The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:7a). Israel was that vine. As Isaiah tells us, God cleared out the rocks in His vineyard and hedged it about. He built a tower; He protected the vineyard and cared for it. He did everything possible to cause it to produce grapes. But when He came into His vineyard and looked for grapes, He found instead sour, tasteless grapes. Isaiah tells us what that represents in verse 7: The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress (Isaiah 5:7).

God came looking for justice and righteousness; instead, He found oppression, cruelty, exploitation, and indifference to the needs of others. It is evident from this parable that the fruit that God expects of the vine is moral character or, as described in Galatians, the fruit of the Spirit. The life that is in the vine produces fruit that Paul describes in Galatians 5 as love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. The fruit, in other words, is Christlikeness. And our Lord is indicating that the very purpose of the vine is to produce such fruit.

Life Application​

What beautiful analogy has helped many people understand the relationship God wants us to know?
Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

Keep on sowing the precious seed brother-good work.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 7TH​

True But Wrong​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 8

Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
Job 8:20

When you read Bildad's arguments, you have to ask, What is wrong with this? It sounds so true and right. It is an argument you hear repeated many times today. What Bildad says is true and logical and supported by plausible argument both from the experience of the past and from the testimony of much of Scripture as well. What, then, is wrong?

I see three things wrong with Job's friends' approaches. First, they answer Job's words without trying to find out what produces those words. They are zeroing in on what he says without understanding his agony. Job himself has admitted that he speaks rashly, but he says it is because of the unceasing torment he is going through. Those of us who have gone through deep, unrelenting pain know how this can try the spirit to the utmost, and we become testy and sharp. And because Job says certain things that sound extreme, his friends leap upon his words and try to analyze them. They make no attempt to identify with Job's hurt in their approaches to him.

The second thing is that these friends' theology was right as far as it went, but it was very incomplete. They always spoke with the utmost confidence that what they were saying was the final word on the subject. There was no apparent understanding that perhaps there were aspects of God and dimensions to His Word that they had not yet seen. Their narrow, limited vision said that difficulties in a person's life are always caused by sin. Many of the problems of life are caused by sin; therefore, it is impossible to say that these men are wrong. Nevertheless, they do not see that there are other reasons God brings us into suffering.

I am reminded of the famous story of the blind men and the elephant. They gather around this huge animal and by feeling it, try to identify what an elephant is like. One, grabbing the trunk, said an elephant is like a snake. Another, feeling the leg, said an elephant is like a tree. Still another, feeling the side of the animal, said that an elephant is like a wall. A fourth, grabbing the tail, said an elephant is like a rope. Thus they argued back and forth. All of them were right, and all of them were wrong, because they did not see the whole picture.

The third thing that is wrong with these friends is that they never seem to refer to God for help for themselves in understanding Job's problem. They never pray with Job. They never ask God to open their minds and illuminate their understanding so that they can help their friend. The book of Job is filled with prayers, but they are all the prayers of Job crying out to God in the midst of his sufferings. His friends never seem to feel the need for further illumination on the subject. What a testimony to us for the need to speak cautiously when we deal with the deep hurts and problems of life.

Teach me to reach out to others who are suffering and pray with them in a spirit of compassion.

​

Life Application​

Christ-like compassion will be quite different from that of Job's friends. How can we avoid being self-righteous, insensitive, and over-bearing when comforting others?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 8TH​

The Need For A Mediator​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 9-10

If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
Job 9:33

Job's problem is that he has no way to examine God, and that is what he goes on to state in very eloquent terms. He says that God's wisdom is beyond man: How can you get hold of a God like that to debate with Him the issues that are causing the pain of life? What can I do? How can I get at this whole problem? Job asks.

Out of the deep darkness that surrounds this suffering saint, a ray of light breaks through. It is the first break in Job's gloom. What is needed is a mediator, an arbitrator who can come between us, who understands us both and brings us together, Job says. For the first time in this book we begin to see what God is producing in this man, why he is putting him through this protracted trial. For now Job begins to feel, deep in his bones, the nature of reality: the terrible gulf between man and God that must be bridged by another party.

We who live in the full light of the New Testament know that he is crying out and feeling deep within the need for just such a mediator as Jesus himself. Job is laying the foundation here in his own understanding for the tremendous revelation that comes in the New Testament when God becomes man. God takes our place, lives as we live, feels as we feel, solves the great problem between us and God, and brings the two—God and man—together. For the first time in Job, we begin to sense what God is driving at.

Psalm 119:71 says, It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. You can learn theology from a book, and you can study it and get it clear in your mind, but until you go through the hurts and difficulties and trials of life, you never really understand what the truth is. It takes suffering to get a clear vision of what God is saying to us, and that is what the book of Job is all about.

Lord, I am so grateful that You sent Your Son as a mediator. Thank You that He understands us both and brings us together through His own sacrifice on the cross.

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Life Application​

Job's suffering helped his understanding of God. The New Testament reveals far more of who God is. Do we see pain as opportunity to experience what we know?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 9TH​

The Folly Of Platitudes​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 11-12

If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame, you will stand firm and without fear.
Job 11:14-15

Zophar the Naamathite comes onto the scene. (I call him Zophar the Zealous.) He moves up to bat, and he opens with a scorching rebuke to Job's sinful folly, as he sees it. You can almost see Zophar shaking his fist in righteous indignation in Job's face. He accuses Job of wordiness, of foolishness, of mockery, of self-righteous smugness. He says that Job's punishment is richly deserved, that he is only getting what is coming to him—and not even all of that. What a lack of compassion this man shows!

He goes on to describe Job's stupid ignorance in contrast to God's deep wisdom and inscrutable ways. Anybody as stupid as you, Job, will never get any help. He lays it on, heavy and hard. Then he closes with a vivid description of the shining possibilities that can be ahead, if only Job will repent.

Once again, there is no identifying with Job's hurt. There is no sense of empathy, of trying to feel with him the awful torment of mind and spirit that presses him, squeezes him, and drags from him these agonizing cries into the darkness around. These men just lay it on him. They see only the cold, analytical logic of it. Zophar, of course, speaks with a great deal of passion and force, but there is no sense of offering understanding help. He simply lays on a passionate invective.

This is the difference between theology and the experience of a man taught by the Spirit. Theology can be very clear and right, but it is all in the head. When you are dealing with a person who is hurting, you must add a deeper dimension—that compassion that Jesus manifested, His sympathy for and identification with hurting people that would prompt them to open the door of their spirits to receive the light He gave through His words.

The first round ends with Job's sarcastic defense in chapters 12-14 and his answers to his friends. Job points out that they deal with elementary truths, things that anybody could know: You haven't helped me. Anyone knows this. You don't understand because you've never been here. You tell me God always punishes unrighteousness, but look around you. There are open idolaters who carry their idols in their hands. There are robbers living at peace who dwell secure. God is not punishing them. Life itself testifies that you are wrong.

Surely, if nothing else, this book of Job should help us to be careful in our approach to the suffering of others, so that we do not add to it. These friends of Job are so rigid in their theology and so blind to the great dimensions of God that they do not yet understand that they are only increasing the torment of this poor man. This is why Scripture exhorts us to Rejoice with those who rejoice, [and] weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15 RSV).

Father, help me to understand more the majesty of Your being and the compassion of Your heart.

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Life Application​

How do we humbly present ourselves to those who are suffering or in difficult circumstances? Do we seek to offer them Jesus' compassion or theological theories?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 11TH​

Worn-out Theology​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 15

What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could be righteous? If God places no trust in his holy ones, even the heavens are not pure in his eyes, how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water!
Job 15:14-16

Eliphaz returns, as all the friends do, to their narrow and worn-out theology. Of course, Eliphaz has Job in mind here: Vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water. I hope you have seen the fault in this line of argument. It is not that their theology is wrong; it is right. Eliphaz is pointing out the general nature of the fall and its effects upon human life, particularly the depravity of man. And he says rightly that there is nobody who is clean, nobody who is righteous before God. But what he fails to do is to point out to Job specifically what it is that he has done.

How can you deal with evil if you do not know what it is? The great revelation that God is seeking to help Job understand is the nature of the corruptness of his heart. But God never charges Job with fault until he begins to see what is wrong, while these men come ready to charge him with every ugly thing in the book, though they have no proof at all. Job's life makes all their charges a lie. As a matter of fact, they themselves are guilty of the very things that they set before Job because they too are part of the human race. Eliphaz is a man born of woman, so he is guilty along with Job based on this fact, but you never hear a word of self-condemnation from him.

This is the terrible fault of these friends, and I hope it teaches us a very needed lesson. When we talk with somebody who is suffering or living in an obviously sinful state, we must never take the position of priggish smugness or a complacency that pictures us as being right and true and the other one as wrong.

Eliphaz goes on in a long passage to argue again from experience. He goes back over all the past and says, My thesis is true; everything proves it: God will not let a man get by with wickedness. The wicked are going to be punished. Therefore, if you are being punished, you must be wicked! He says in verses 34-35: For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes. They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit (Job 15:34-35). It is the same old tired thrust at Job: He must he guilty of some terrible sin.

Lord, deliver me from worn-out theology, which does not come from the study of Your Word but from my own pride.

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Life Application​

Do we use our theological smugness to accuse and wound? Are we learning instead that truth spoken in Christ's love and compassion is a gateway into newness of life?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 12TH​

Honest To God​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 16-17

Then Job replied: I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all! Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing? I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you.
Job 16:1-4

In chapters 16 and 17, Job answers his friends. He does not know what to say, but he is trying to be honest. The great thing about Job is that he is no hypocrite; he never tries to cover over or set his case in a better light--he simply blurts out all the hurt and anguish of his heart as best he can. These are sarcastic words coming from a man who is tortured. You can see from this that Satan, though he has faded from the scene, is still there in the background using these friends as channels for what the apostle Paul calls the flaming arrows of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16). These flaming arrows are the accusations of the accuser against believers. Let us beware of becoming a channel for Satan's accusations against someone who is suffering as Job is suffering here.

Then Job goes on to state the facts, as he understands them. First he says, All I can conclude from what I am suffering is that God must hate me. God assails me and tears me in his anger (Job 16:9a). Job sees that even the people around him have rejected him and ascribes responsibility for those circumstances to God: God has turned me over to evil men and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked (Job 16:11).

Job charges God with all that is wrong in his life. Yet God is wonderfully patient. He does not reply against Job, nor does He strike him down in anger. Job is certainly not the finest example of faith in the Scriptures. Men like Paul suffered extremely, as did Job. We think of that Silent Sufferer in the Garden of Gethsemane, who, when they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23). How much higher is that level of response than what we see in the book of Job? But Job is an example for us of how we must break through our natural view of life so that we begin to see things in a different light. This book is here to teach us that God sometimes has to translate theology into painful experience before we really begin to grasp what He is trying to say to us.

Father, thank You that You have sent Your Son, who has endured more suffering than I. Grant me the strength to endure whatever You allow into my life.

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Life Application​

When we are confronted with unaccountable pain or seemingly unearned trials, do we see Jesus as our model of redemptive suffering?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 13TH​

A Vision Of Faith​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 18-19

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes — I, and not another.
Job 19:25-27a

This is one of the great words of faith in the Old Testament, one of the earliest intimations of the resurrection of the body found in the Word of God. Slowly, through the anguish and gloom of this man's heart, born out of the passion and the pathos that he feels, comes the dawning realization that God is working out a great and mighty purpose, and that one of these days God Himself (Job has never failed to see God's great majesty and power) shall be visibly present before people. God will come Himself and vindicate all that He does. This is a marvelous glance ahead by faith to the incarnation of the Lord. Job calls him my Redeemer and my Vindicator, the one who will defend me and vindicate all that has happened to me.

I think there is nothing that the study of this book of Job does for us more than to understand that life is basically a mystery. We are surrounded by mystery. We cannot comprehend it all; it is painted on too large a canvas. It is too great and involved for us to grasp it all. The ways of God are beyond us many times, and yet Job is gradually learning in the midst of his pain to trust the God who is there, to trust that He will come up with answers and that He is working out a purpose in line with His love. That is what life gradually teaches us.

Elisabeth Elliot described briefly her first widowhood. Her husband was slain along with four companions in the jungles of Ecuador by members of the Auca tribe. She spent thirteen years as a widow, and then she married a gracious and wonderful man with whom she was very happy for just a few more years. Then he died, taken by cancer. She said, I have spent six-sevenths of my life single, though I have been married twice. I did not choose the gift of widowhood, but I accepted it as the sphere in which I am to live to the glory of God.

This is what Job is gradually learning. God is working out a purpose. It is not related to specific sin, although, as we will see before the book is over, Job learns much more about the depravity of his own nature.

Thank You, Lord, that You have sent Jesus to be my Redeemer, and I can trust that You are working out Your purposes. Help me to accept what You have in store for me as the sphere in which I am to live to the glory of God

​

Life Application​

When life tumbles in, leaving us mystified, are we allowing God to plant hope and faith in our minds and hearts? Do we humbly recognize his inscrutable wisdom?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 14TH​

When Life Seems Unfair​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 20-21

Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts — that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, that he is delivered from the day of wrath?
Job 21:29-30

Life seems to be unfair. There appears to be a basic unfairness at the root of things, and this is what causes many people to be troubled by Christians' claims about a loving, faithful, just, and holy God. You often hear the question raised, If there is a good God, why does He let this kind of thing happen? Job is raising the same question. He says to these pious, respectable friends, Your arguments do not square with the facts. You say God always visits wrath upon the wicked. What about these wicked people who live without a touch? God never does a thing to them. What about the fact that He seems to treat people very unfairly? Folks who seem to deserve nothing but the grace of God, who are a loving, gentle, kind people, have endless problems and die forsaken. And some who are selfish and cruel and self-centered are the ones who seem to be able to live without struggle. What about this?

Job tells his friends, If you'll just inquire among those who travel, the people who get around and see life, you'll find that they support what I'm saying. The wicked often escape the day of calamity. It's not just true around here; this is true everywhere. The wicked live above the law, and nobody tells them that they're doing wrong. They get by with it. They die highly honored in their death, their graves are adorned and guarded, and God does nothing about that. So he says at last in verse 34: So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!

If you intend to argue with Job, you had better get your arguments well in hand. This man is able to see through the error of logic in these people's position. They have a theology that does not square with experience, and that is where the problem lies.

These friends represent people—and there are many around today—who have placed God in a box. They have what they think is a clear understanding of all the ways of God, and they can predict how He is going to act, but when He acts in a way that they do not understand and do not expect, they have no way of handling it because it is their creed they have faith in, and not in God Himself.

This is what Job is learning. His creed has been demolished by his experiences. He has had to file his theology in the wastebasket because it did not fit what he was going through. Someone has well said that a person with a true experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument. Job's friends are unable to answer him because his experience rings true.

Lord, expand my understanding of who You are. I don't want to simply know about You; I want to know You intimately and personally in my experience.

​

Life Application​

There is no room for phoniness in authentic Christianity. Rationalizing is feckless, so are we seeking genuine heart knowledge and intimacy with Christ our Lord?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 15TH​

False Accusations​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 22-24

Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?
Job 22:4

Here Eliphaz misunderstands what Job has said. He thinks that Job is accusing God of unfairly punishing him, but, once again, Job never said that. If Job were guilty of this he would be doing what Satan wanted him to do—he would be accusing and blaspheming God. It is true that Job asks God questions about His motives, but never once does he say, You're at fault, and charge God with unrighteousness, as Eliphaz suggests. I think this is one of the most helpful things we can learn from the book of Job, because in our testings, our pressures, and our times of torment, Satan is trying to get us to do the very thing he tried to get Job to do—he is trying to get us to blame God and accuse Him of being an unfair and unjust God. If that is where Satan drives us, we have fallen. We have gone over the brink and become guilty of an accusation against the God of righteousness. Job never does that. He comes very close, but he refuses to do that. So because he is upset and angry with Job's resistance against his charges, Eliphaz goes on to invent unsupported, untruthful accusations against him (Job 22:5-11).

Today there is a kind of pharisaism that seeks to get you to agree with its limited theology, and if you refuse to do so, some may insult you and pour out charges against you. In my wife's early Christian life, she began listening to a radio broadcast that taught her the truth from the Scriptures, and the pastor of her church became very angry and upset at her. He brought her before him and tried to straighten her out, using insults instead of the Scriptures. When she would not be persuaded because she was learning the truth from the Word of God, he did the very thing that Eliphaz did. He railed against her and charged her with all kinds of things that she had not done, threatening to expose her to the church as a heretic. She endured a great deal of mental torment and suffering through that time.

There is nothing worse than this kind of unfounded, murderous, slanderous attack that Job has to face from his so-called friends. Eliphaz goes on, in chapter 22:12-14, to accuse Job of having wrong perceptions about God: The trouble with you, Job, is you think God is such a limited being that He can't even see what you're doing. He's up high in heaven, and the clouds come in-between and shut you off, and you think you're getting by with hiding your sin because God can't see through the clouds! This is a ridiculous accusation, for Job has already demonstrated that he has a consciousness of the mightiness, the greatness, the majesty, and the mystery of God—far beyond what these friends hold. But they cannot live with that, and they will not accept it, so they charge him with these childish concepts.

Thank You, Lord, that You know me better than anyone else. You know my heart; and I trust that You will reveal to me that which I need to know.

​

Life Application​

Human judgment can be helpful, yet damaging. Can we choose the grace-filled option, inviting the God who loves us to search and know our hearts, and lead us?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 16TH​

The Grand Perhaps​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 25-26

How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble! What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed! Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?
Job 26:2-4

In chapter 26 Job hangs up the phone, in a sense. He says there is no use talking to his friends anymore. His answer to Bildad is one of rather deep and rich irony in which he suggests that his friends have been of no help at all to him. I think, however, that Job needs to learn something from this, and we will see in the next chapters that he does. Oswald Chambers reminds us that God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers that he uses to crush us with; or if we do, it will be at great pain to ourselves. Job does not see here that God also is using these friends in his life. Satan has sent them; God is using them; and we will soon see the result in Job's life.

Once again he goes on to state the majesty of God in a brilliant and moving passage, and he closes with this word in verse 14: And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power? What he says is simply that there is a mystery in God that no human can plumb. Even when we have understood something of the greatness of His wisdom and majesty in nature—when we have learned of His omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience, and we know that as part of our theology—it still does not explain all of His ways.

I am reminded of a verse from Robert Browning's poem "Bishop Blougram's Apology," where the poet describes an arrogant young man who has worked out all his theology so that God is carefully boxed in. He believes he knows the answers to all the theological riddles of life; there is no place for God in it. He can handle it all himself. He comes to an old bishop and tells him he does not need God any longer; he is committed to his unbelief. The old bishop warns him:

"Just when we are safest, there's a sunset-touch,
A fancy from a flower-bell, some one's death,
A chorus-ending from Euripides,—
And that's enough for fifty hopes and fears...
The Grand Perhaps."

What he means is that just when you think you have God all worked out, something happens that you can't handle—it doesn't fit your box. You see a sunset that is so moving that it awakens depths in you that you can't explain. Someone dies, and you don't know how to handle it. You see a flower, and you are touched by it. You listen to a chorus-ending from Euripides, and it moves you in such a strange way, it doesn't fit the facts. And in all these ways God is breaking through into our lives—the grand perhaps, and that's enough for fifty hopes and fears—the great mystery of God.

Father, thank You for the encouragement I receive from this book to know that other men and women in the past have faced the same difficult questions that I have faced, and they have not been knocked off their feet and driven to curse you. Help me to take heart in what trials I may be going through and know that You will bring me through.

​

Life Application​

God's people have a rich heritage of heroes of the faith. Have we caught their vision of the majesty and goodness of our God, and set our hearts on faith-full discipleship?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 18TH​

The Wrong Of Self-defense​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 29-31

If my land cries out against me and all its furrows are wet with tears, if I have devoured its yield without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants, then let briers come up instead of wheat and weeds instead of barley.
Job 31:38-39

With this, the words of Job are ended; he has nothing more to say. Baffled, questioning, tormented, yet unwilling to forsake God, he falls silent. What can we say about the trials, the pressures, and the riddles of our own life? Remember that Job at this point has learned that his theology is too small for his God. That is true for many of us. We think we know the Bible, we think we have God boxed in, and we understand how He is going to act. And just as surely as we do, God is going to do something that will not fit our theology. He is greater than any human study of Him. He is not going to be inconsistent with Himself; He never is. He is not capricious, acting out of anger and malice. He is a loving God, but His love will take forms of expression that we do not understand. Up to this point Job has had his faith in the rule of God, but now at last he has begun to reach out tremblingly to exercise faith in the God who rules. That is a transfer that many of us need to come to.

The second thing that we can see at this point in the book is that Job's view of himself is woefully inadequate. He has been defending himself, and he has been remembering all his good deeds. We all do this, don't we? When trouble strikes we all tend to think to ourselves, Why should this happen to me? By that we mean, I haven't done anything wrong. I've been perfectly well behaved. Why should I be subjected to this kind of torment? All this makes us realize that he and we also have little understanding of the depths of sin's attack upon us and the depravity of our hearts. Jeremiah says, The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it (Jeremiah 17:9)? The one thing God teaches us by these pressures and problems of life is to understand that there are depths of sin within us of which we are not yet aware.

The third thing that we need to see is that his self-vindication explains the silence of God. Why does God not help this man? The answer is because he has not yet come to the place where he is willing to listen. As long as people are defending themselves, God will not defend them. There is a theme that runs all through the Bible: As long as you justify yourself, God will never justify you. And as long as Job thinks he has some righteous ground on which to stand, God's silence remains. This is true in our lives as well. That is why Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3), those who are bankrupt in themselves, who have come to the end. When we shut up and stop defending and justifying ourselves, God will rise to take up our cause. That is what we will see in the book of Job at the end; God will begin to speak on Job's behalf.

Lord, help me to lay aside all my flaunting schemes for self-improvement and self-defense and stand naked before You, trusting Your loving grace to give me all I need,

​

Life Application​

We inevitably whitewash our conduct in self-defense. Are we willing to stand naked before God who knows us intimately yet defends us as we stand complete in Christ?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 19TH​

Youth Answers Age​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 32-33

It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.
Job 32:9

Commentators seem to differ widely as to what to do with Elihu. Some regard him as a rather brash young man with the cocksure arrogance of youth who speaks up to tell the older men what they were doing that was wrong, while others seem to see him as merely repeating in other words the arguments of these friends, without adding much.

But I would like to differ with these latter commentators and agree with those who see Elihu as having a very important part in this book. Let me point out certain things about this young man as we are introduced to him: First, when you come to the end of the book and you read the rebuke that God gives to the three friends of Job, you will note that Elihu is not included. He is not rebuked for what he says, and he does not have to ask Job to pray for him, as they do. The second thing is that he is given an obvious, prominent part in this drama. His message occupies the next five chapters, and he is allowed to give one of the major discourses of this book. And third, he always speaks with courtesy and sensitivity to Job, despite the strong feelings that he admits he has. The other friends were caustic and sarcastic in their approach to Job, but this young man is very courteous when he addresses him. He recognizes the depth of Job's suffering, and he always speaks with understanding.

The fourth, and probably most important, thing is that Elihu claims to speak not as the other men did from their experience, but he claims to speak from revelation. That is what we read in verses 8-9. Elihu says, It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
It is not the accumulation of years of experience that makes people wise; it is what God has taught them through the years. And this is a very important point. God can teach a young man or woman as much as an older man or woman. And when we speak from the wisdom of God, then we can truly be wise, regardless of what our calendar age may be. I know we who have lived a long time tend to think it is the years that have made us wise! If we are wise at all, it is not only because we are older.

I am reminded of a schoolteacher who applied for a job and was turned down for another younger teacher who only had three years of experience. The first teacher protested to the principal, I've had twenty-five years' experience, so why was I passed over in favor of this younger one? And the principal said, Well, I have to disagree with you. You haven't had twenty-five years' experience. You've had one year's experience twenty-five times. It is quite possible to go through life repeating the same way of thinking and never learn wisdom. So Elihu is right here. It is not simply the elderly who are wise, because God gives wisdom.

Lord, grant me the wisdom not simply of age, but of revelation that comes from You.

​

Life Application​

God's deep wisdom is timeless, and available to us at any age or stage of life. Do we perhaps settle for empty conventional wisdom, or do we hunger to hear from God?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 20TH​

Tried To The End​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 34-35

Oh, that Job might be tested to the utmost for answering like a wicked man!
Job 34:36

The unique thing about Elihu's presentation is that he does not attempt to speak out of his experience. He is not an old man who has been taught certain lessons by life. His claim is that he is speaking out of what God has taught him by the Spirit, and, therefore, he is sharing the insights and wisdom of God. And as Elihu's speech unfolds, we can see that is true. It is in accord with the revelation of God elsewhere in scripture, so God is speaking and answering some of the cries of Job's tormented heart through this young man.

What Elihu is saying here is that Job is obviously speaking out of ignorance of the nature and true character of God, and therefore he needs further treatment. Oh, that Job might be tested to the utmost he says. He doesn't desire this because he wants to increase Job's agony but because only that will bring Job to the truth, so he asks that Job's trials go on until he sees what he is doing.

Job is a righteous man. His heart is right, and he wants to serve God, but he thinks that he can do it by his own just efforts. The toughest lesson God has to teach human beings is the lesson of seeing the evil in what we think is nothing but good. We always think that our efforts to behave ourselves by obeying the truth, as we understand it, are acceptable to God. The hardest lesson of life is to learn that our righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight (Isaiah 64:6). It is only dependence upon His gift of righteousness that will ever be acceptable in His sight. That is what Job is finally learning. It is the struggle of Romans 7 here in the Old Testament. Paul, whose heart was right, wanted to do what God wanted and was trying his best to do it, but instead it all fell apart, and he cried out, What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me (Romans 7:24)? And the word of faith comes in: It is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). You are righteous, not by trying, but by accepting what God has said by His gift of righteousness.

Job is learning that his righteousness does not come about by his own efforts here. Remember that God initiated this contest, not Satan. God said to Satan, Notice my friend Job? See what you can do with him. God had something to teach this man, and maybe that is what God is saying to many of us. When we think our heart is absolutely right before Him, we have failed to grasp the one basis upon which we can be right before Him, and that is why trouble often comes.

Father, my heart is humble as I see how mighty are Your ways. What a marvelous Being You are, Lord. Help me to take the place of the learner and be taught out of humility and weakness that I might be strong because of Your loving grace.

​

Life Application​

Have we grasped the tough lesson from our loving Father that our best good deeds, if done in our own strength apart from the Spirit, are an abomination to the Lord?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 21ST​

Your God Is Too Small​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 36-37

God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?
Job 36:22

Elihu's final word to Job is a great and beautiful passage in which he sets forth in marvelous language the glory of God. It runs from chapter 35:22 through chapter 37. First, God is beyond human instruction. Notice how he begins: God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him? Then, he reveals another important fact in chapter 36:26: God is beyond human understanding: How great is God beyond our understanding! Finally, Elihu reveals in 36:30-31 that God acts beyond the rigid categories and reasons of humans: See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance. God uses His natural powers for both blessing and judgment alike.

And then, beginning with chapter 37, we have such a marvelous description of a great electric storm that many of the commentators feel that this was an actual occurrence, that a storm began to break out at this moment, and Elihu used it as a vivid example of what he had been saying about God. If any of you have ever been out on the prairies and seen an electric storm break out, you will know what a terrifying and awe-inspiring experience it is--with the lightning crackling and splitting the sky and the roaring of the thunder. It is a magnificent experience, and this is what Elihu begins to describe in verses 2-4: Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back.

Then he speaks of how God sends the snow and the rain; he sends tornadoes, the whirlwinds, and the frost; he controls the cycles of the weather. Next time you are watching a weather report on television, and the broadcast shows a satellite picture, notice how it appears in spirals. This is what Elihu refers to in verse 12: At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them.
Then he tells us why: He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love(Job 37:13). God has many reasons for doing things; we are not always certain what they are. God's wisdom is inscrutable. He goes on, Can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze? (Job 37:18) Job can do none of these things.

All the way through the Bible, from beginning to end, the only man or woman who ever receives anything from God is the one who comes with a humble and contrite heart. If you think you have something to offer Him or that you have achievements that nobody else can equal, you cut yourself off from the wisdom and knowledge of God. But those who come humbly, contrite, waiting upon God, asking Him to teach them, will find that God will pick them up in grace and power and glory and restore them.

Lord, thank You that in Your majesty and power You are also a God of grace and mercy.

​

Life Application​

Do we try to reduce God to manageable size, and compete with him for control? Or do we humbly receive him as our Father-provider and our Savior and Lord in Jesus?


Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 22ND​

The God Of Nature​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOB 38-39

Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, you understand.
Job 38:4

Surely chapters 38-41 are the climax of this great book of Job. Here the voice of Jehovah Himself is heard, speaking out of the whirlwind.
Jehovah challenges Job, Gird up your loins like a man and let me ask you some questions. You have claimed that you want a trial before me. Let me examine your competence to see if you can answer some simple questions first. In the account that follows, Jehovah's voice subjects Job to a series of very penetrating questions.

First: Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Where were humans? They were not even in existence yet. That is why in all the centuries since this question was asked of Job, humans have never been able to settle the question of origin. Where did the universe come from? How did it originate? Who brought it into being? What process was followed? The whole world is debating that question today, but humans have never been able to answer the question of the origin of the earth because they were not there to observe it.

Then 38:6 addresses the question of procedure. How did God hang the earth upon nothing, as Job himself asked earlier in this account? Back in the days when the Scriptures were written down, the scientific world believed that the earth was flat. There were strange, legendary accounts of how the earth came into being, that it floated on elephants' backs or rested on turtles swimming in the sea. But in the book of Job is the clear statement that God has hung the earth upon nothing.

Now God asks Job, How did that happen? The only answer that science can give today is gravity, but nobody knows what gravity is. It is just a word we use, but it does not tell us what it is. Here again is a question that we still cannot answer today. How is the earth suspended between the various heavenly bodies in such a way that it moves in orderly procession through the illimitable reaches of space? How can it be? We still do not know. Finally, God says, Were you there when it happened? and He links it with a tremendous event when the whole creation seemed to break into harmony and melody, when the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy (Job 38:7).

Like Job, Father, I bow in silence before You. Who am I to accuse the Almighty? Who am I to complain about my lot in life and say it is wrong? Lord, I have been silenced but I pray that You will take me deeper and in graciousness show me more of how great You really are.

​

Life Application​

Do we waste valuable time and energy arguing with God, when surrender to His sovereignty opens His treasures of forgiveness, cleansing, and loving fellowship?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.