Listening to the Word

Job 31-32; Galatians 5-6   “’I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl…If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled, then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.’” Job 31:1, 7, 8 “…do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature…A man reaps what he sows.” Galatians 5:13; 6:7 Indulging our sinful nature will affect our capacity to reap a spiritual harvest. The Lord of the harvest is calling out workers who have made a covenant with their eyes not to lust and who have disciplined their feet not to leave the path of God’s ways. When we use our spiritual freedom in Christ to further indulge our sinful nature, we will reap what we sow and others will eat the good harvest we have invested in, or our harvest will be uprooted. God’s discipline is good and meant to produce a harvest of peace and righteousness for those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11). Character matters if

Job 30; Psalms 120; Galatians 3-4   “…After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing – if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?” Galatians 3:3-5 The temptation to rely on our human effort in following Christ is very difficult to overcome if we are not yet aware we have been crucified with Christ and we no longer live, but Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20). In Paul’s context, it was the pull of ‘Judaizers’ trying to get Gentiles to live under the Mosaic Law, even while they followed Christ. In our context, human effort looks more like relying on a church full of programs or Bible knowledge we acquired decades ago, rather than on a vital, daily relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit. It should be normal for us to experience the presence and power of God each day. Just as we began to fo

  Job 28-29; Galatians 1-2   “’Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell?’...And he said to the man, ‘The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’” Job 28:20, 28 The pursuit of precious minerals, gold, and silver, has motivated men to risk everything to discover and mine hidden wealth. Job draws the parallel to seeking and discovering wisdom and understanding. What price are we willing to pay in order to grow in wisdom when we discover that wisdom is found in the presence of the Lord? The fear of the Lord is both the beginning and the source of wisdom. When we fear God, we avoid sin, and we choose to learn and follow the ways of God. Are we growing in wisdom, or is our account being depleted by sloth, lack of self-control, and self-indulgence? Wisdom and understanding pay eternal dividends. “Lord Jesus, I desire to grow in wisdom, for your glory.”

Job 26-27; Mark 15-16   “With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’” Mark 15:37-39 The final cry of Jesus was not a cry of anger or defeat; it was a cry of victory. The soldier who witnessed this cry, and the humility with which Jesus offered his life for the sins of the world, testified that “this man was the Son of God”. Jesus finished well. In the temple, the massive curtain separating the Most Holy Place was torn from top to bottom by an even larger angel. Access to God’s presence through the atoning blood of Christ was now open to all who received, by faith, Christ’s sacrifice for their sin. We, too, can now experience intimate communication with our Father in heaven. We, too, can now finish well the discipleship path each of us is walking.   What is our response as those who, like

Job 25: Mark 13-14   “’Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping…’Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.’” Mark 14:36-38 The cup of suffering Jesus took from the hand of his Father was a cup he also shared with his disciples. Jesus fulfilled the intercession and atoning work of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53. His disciples shared in Christ’s sufferings (Colossians 1:24), through their willing surrender to the Father’s mission-purposes and will. It was the Holy Spirit who later empowered them to pray and proclaim the good news that Christ’s sufferings had been redeemed. Our flesh is still weak and we, too, need to watch and pray so we, too, do not fall into temptation. Sometimes the temptation is to avoid suffering for the will of God because our will is often on the path of least resi

Job 23-24; Mark 11-12   “The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was no the season for figs…’…whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.’” Mark 11:12, 13, 24, 25 Fig trees express green figs before they express leaves. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it lacked fruit, similar to the lack of prayer in the temple’s Gentile court.   As hungry people pass through our lives, do they see accessible fruit? At the very least, can they receive prayer-access through our lives, leading to the Father’s presence and the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work which is for the healing of the nations? Green leaves are not enough. Jesus requires fruit from our lives, t