Job 19:25

Job 19:25: “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.”

I was just thinking about Job yesterday. I love this book, at first glance the concept of Job is that a ton of bad stuff happens to this guy and he doesn't give up on God. in 19:25 his whole family has been killed, his estate has been destroyed and he has been struck with disease yet he still attests that God will be their at the end.

There is a lot of intense vervage in Job. For example, look at the next verse:

Job 19:26: “And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God”

Wow!

In Chapter 19 Job is responding to the accusations of his contemporaries that because all this bad stuff is happening he must deserve it in some way.

From Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary:

Job's friends blamed him as a wicked man, because he was so afflicted; here he describes their unkindness, showing that what they condemned was capable of excuse. Harsh language from friends, greatly adds to the weight of afflictions: yet it is best not to lay it to heart, lest we harbour resentment. Rather let us look to Him who endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, and was treated with far more cruelty than Job was, or we can be.

My prayer:
Dear Lord,
Please fill me with your spirit and help me to be joyful in all things. Help to show that truth to me and the truth of how to follow your will. Please show me how to surrender lord.
Amen

Paul is Preaching to me Today

The Need for Self-Discipline

 ²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

» Four Agreements and Wisdom for Spiritual Warriors based in Common Sense

The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz is a fantastic book for the four principles shared. Following these is good advice for everyone. There is a lot of new agey stuff in the book I disregard; the meat of the book is the common sense of the four agreements. 

» Four Agreements and Wisdom for Spiritual Warriors based in Common Sense

The Four Agreements are:

1. Be Impeccable with your Word: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

Luke 9:23-24

Luke 9:23-24: “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

Dear Lord,

Please help me to sever the bonds that are tethering me down and keeping me from following you. Help me to give up my life and take up your will as my cause

Amen.

A prayer of confession, surrender, and a request for strength

Dear Lord,

I am naturally sinful and not worthy of your anything I get from you. I deserve death and every punishment I get and not only do you forgive me, you took what I deserve upon yourself and died for my sins. Thank you Lord for accepting me into your love, for creating me, and accepting me as family, wanting to have a relationship with me and accepting my prayers. Thank you for being their for me whenever I need you, and being in me and with me all the time. Thank you Lord for the gifts of the people who love me and the people who I love in my life. Thank you for my friends online and offline, for the people who I know through family, through the church, through gaming, and every other soul I come in to contact with.
Dear Lord, please help me to want your will in my life. I am always too weak and always give in to the sinful self. Help me to remember that you are their for me. I surrender my will Lord, take me over and help me to do your will. I want to be the man you want me to be, I don't want to be the old sinful self, I want to be who you want me to be.
Right now I want to pray that I want to do your will and I want you take over and do it for me but I don't always; I am usually too weak, don't do what you want me to do, I don't even do what I want to do, I give in and take inaction over action. Dear Lord please help me to want your will in my life, to be stronger, and to accept your will. Help me to life prayerfully, to embrace and love your word, to look forward to worship, and to look forward to spreading your word without fear. Help me to fight resistance and be strong. Help me to surrender and follow the path you have chosen for me.

Amen.