Chapter 1
In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Job 1:22 – So it is possible. It is possible to go through a season of life where everything is going wrong and the things precious to you are being stripped away but you still don’t turn to sin as a result. Job didn’t even have time to catch his breath before servant after servant came and broke the news of the horrors that had happened in his life. This year has felt in many ways like that section of verses here in this first chapter. One thing after another, more bad news right after getting bad news. From COVID to wildfires to even something called murder hornets of all things! Yet through it all we still have to make the choice to continue after God or turn to follow sinfulness instead. Job shows us we really have no worthwhile excuse to turn to sin. The choice remains in your hands. Will you let the struggles redirect your path or reaffirm in? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1453
And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. Job 1:5 – We are stepping into the study of a new book, the book of Job. While this may be a book where we see repeated themes arise, we’ll also see a repeated faithfulness from Job like we see in this chapter. Job was an upright and faithful man after God’s heart. He came to the Lord continually, as we see in our passage above, to offer sacrifices for his family. God blessed him and he blessed the Lord, which is why such a target was upon him. This idea of “continually” needs to find its way more into the Christian life. Job came to the Lord daily. This wasn’t a once a week situation when church was in session. In fact at the time when Job was written, there wouldn’t have been even Jewish temples or synagogues to attend and hear the law read. He had all the perfect reasonings to not be faithful. No church to go to, no written words to read, and no needs to be concerned with. Yet Job continually came to the Lord to worship Him. Let us find ourselves in a posture of “continually.” Maybe the family doesn’t get up to go to church, but you can still go by yourself. Maybe no one else in the office prayers, but you can still. Maybe it’s mocked to read scripture out in the open wherever you are at, do it anyways. We’ll see through times of blessing and times of hard, Job continued to seek out the Lord. Let’s seek to follow God continually. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2626
Chapter 2
And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. Job 2:12 – Our hardships can change us. It can change our ways of thinking, our level of faith, and even change our physical appearance like we see within our passage. Another thing our hardships can have an effect on is our compassion for others. The way we speak and love others in the midst of our struggle is so important to our witness. Jesus, while being crucified, decided to show compassion on even the ones nailing Him to the cross. As it was with Jesus, we must decide to continue with compassion and love when hardships arise. Let people continue to recognize us as followers of Jesus by our love even in the midst of struggles. If we stop loving due to our struggles then we lose the very thing Jesus said the world would identify us as His followers by. Be sure then to find yourself in God’s Word to encourage you in this and find yourself in the middle of a supportive church family to help as well. We love better when we have love pouring into us first. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1454
And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. Job 2:13 – Job had almost everything from him taken away. His animals were stolen, his children killed, and his body was afflicted with horrible sores all over. The amount of agony he was in physically and emotionally would have been so great. For us today when we come alongside someone who has experience something horrible in life, especially if it just took place, it can be confusing to us on what is the right thing to say and do. We want to help, but we aren’t certain what will help. Know I’ve navigated those feelings often, especially this past year. I got the honor to walk with some families this past year through heavy situations I’ve never before walked through, and I too was often in that spot of wanting to help but knew nothing I could say would really help. In those times, take note of Job’s friend’s action. They just sat with Job. They didn’t even say a word for a whole week! Sometimes the best help we can offer someone who is hurting is to just sit with them and to close our mouth. Words can come later, sharing scripture with them can come later, but in the heavy hurt they just need to know you are there in the heavy with them. Absolutely, you can be praying for them in silence as you sit with them, but allow your presence to remind them that they are not alone. That they have you who loves them and that they have Jesus who loves them right along with them in this hurt. Sit, be still, pray, and when ready, listen first to what they have to say. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2627
Chapter 3
Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? Job 3:11 – Job’s anguish drove him to want to live no more. He cursed the very day he was born, wishing he never had lived at all. This is a very dark place to find yourself in when going through a hardship, but it’s not an uncommon one to find people in either. Even if you find yourself here, remember your life has more to it than the hardship. You have had an impact on so many stories and you will have even more of an impact each day you are breathing. My hope is if you begin finding yourself in this dark place like Job, wishing your life was over, you’d reach out to the people who have expressed to you they are there for you. The enemy wants you to think your life is of no value to anyone. God longs for you to see your true value. While struggles are sure to come, we don’t have to give into the dark path the enemy wants to lead us down. Take strength from time with God and others. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1455
Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’ Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it. Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. Job 3:3-5 – Imagine sitting with a friend for a full seven days in silence, and once they finally break that silence, this is what they say. Essentially this chapter is Job saying it would have been better if he were never born. That those who never see the light of day are more blessed than those who do because they never have to taste the pains of this world, the sort of pains that Job was walking heavily through at this time. While yes, the days/months/years/seasons that fall in to the heavy and hard category are ones no one looks forward to in this life, we must not allow them to convince us that life is worth giving up on. The joys God provides in this life are worth the struggle, and the joys in the life to come will make the hardships of today seem like fleeting moments. If today your story is walking through struggle rather than leaping for joy, remember the truth that life is worth it. The life, joys, and relationships that come from God are worth navigating seasons of hard for. If the hard though right now is winning in your mind, please reach out, I’d love to listen. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2628
Chapter 4
Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees. But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed. Job 4:3-5 – While his friend is missing the bigger picture here of what’s going on, I don’t think he had any ill intentions with what he said. He was reminding Job to take for himself what he has spoken over so many other people who found themselves in the spot Job is at now. Job had helped many people realize their was a reason behind the pain, yet his friend thinks Job is refusing to listen to his own words. We too can speak great words into other’s lives who are hurting yet when we find ourselves there we refuse to take it to heart for ourselves. Like “God works all things for good.” We can share it easily with someone else in their pain but hard to believe it when we are the ones in pain. If then a scripture is worth speaking over someone else it’s worth taking in for ourselves. Be sure that the words you share are ones you take in during your own struggles too. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1456
Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands.4 Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees.5 But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed. Job 4:3-5 – Job’s friend is reminding Job of how over and over Job had been present for others in their time of need. When they needed strengthening, he was there. When they were stumbling, he was there to help make things firm again. Now though Job, the usual giver of help, is the one in need. Instead of relying on the truths that he would have shared with those hurting for himself, Job’s friends assumes Job has forgotten that the truths of God’s help is for Job too. We too may be a strong voice in other’s life reminding them of God’s love, goodness, and power when they are in a tough season. Yet, when the tough season is in our story, we may forget everything we often reminded others of. Remember that the truths of scripture and the love of God isn’t just for others, but it’s for you too. Grace is given to them and it’s given to you. Help is given to them and it’s given to you too. God is big enough to support and love you as well. Allow the truths you encourage others with from God’s Word also be spoken over yourself too. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2629
Chapter 5
Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal. Job 5:17-18 – When reading these verses I think of what happens when we work out. In the process of lifting weights you are tearing your muscles, purposely causing them damage. That sounds ridiculous if the outcome wasn’t that they would grow bigger and stronger as a result. And without that tearing the needed growth wouldn’t happen. God will allow us as well to go through tough seasons that do cause us to break sometimes. No, not because He’s careless or because He’s mad at us, but because He knows we’ll grow as a result. Grow in the ways we so desperately need to grow if we are to be able to handle the blessings in the next season. Not all struggles are given for this purpose, sometimes they truly are a result of our bad decisions. Yet in the ones that are clearly from God trust what these verse say. Wounds and shattering may come, but binding up and healing hands come too. If we trust God is able to heal, trust He’s able to break with a purpose as well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1457
For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. “As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause…Job 5:6-8 – Job’s friend, seeing all the trouble that Job is facing, speaks into the situation. He shares what he personally has seen over the years and personally knows when it comes to the struggles men face. Affliction and hardships don’t just come up out of nothing, these sorts of things are on God’s radar and come from Him. A man has to deal with the sparks that fly off of the sinful choices that he is making. So the advice was to begin seeking after God again, give this sin and situation over to the Lord, for no one would be tasting this level of hardship for nothing. As we go throughout the story of Job, we must remember that Job’s situation is highly unique, and while many of the messages from the friends aren’t applicable to him, they do have some wisdom for us. Hardship doesn’t just come out of nowhere, God’s hands are in it. Maybe He is allowing some hard to be present to strengthen and refine us, or maybe He is allowing the hard to open our eyes to the presence of sin in our story. God’s allowance of hardship is never purposeless or just for His humor. Be willing to seek the Lord out in the seasons of hard to search out the purpose. Is it to refine? Is it to direct? Is it to get your attention? Is it to teach? Trust the Lord is in every season and be willing to approach the Lord in every season. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2630
Chapter 6
For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid. Job 6:21 – It is a great thing to have friends and family you count on to come through for you. We’re designed to lean on each other and walk with each other in the good and struggle times. Job here had great expectations of the people he chose to lean on, but is finding out the message often we don’t like to hear. People can fail us. People don’t always have the right words or people can choose to not come through. Does this mean we shouldn’t ever lean on and expect anything from people? Absolutely not. We though need to make sure what we first are leaning on is something that will always come through, Jesus. He is the source of your support and will be a consistent place you can lean on. Lean on others of course for help and guidance, but after first finding your immediate support from God’s promises and Word. This isn’t living with a lack of confidence in the people close to you, it’s simply showing you know where is the best place for you to find help first. So lean deeply on the people who God has provided in your life, but lean harder into Jesus first. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1458
What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me? Job 6:11-13 – Job is now responding to his friend Eliphaz’s comments. Eliphaz told Job to just confess your sin to the Lord and you will be fully restored. Job, knowing his blamelessness, and also knowing the lack of strength within him after such afflictions, speaks his response that we see in the chapter. While after even just a short study of this passage this morning, I noticed how uncertain many commentators are on the exact meaning of Job’s words and phrases. One theme though that arose a few times in the studying was how Job understood the peace that came with death for a follower of God. It would be a release from the pains of this world, pain that he knew far too well. While not following down the path to end his own life, he did plead with the Lord to release him from this life so he could taste the peace of being with His God. This too is something those who are believers must rest in throughout the hardships of this life. We have in our future an eternity of peace with God. No more crying, no more restless nights, not more pain. Instead, it will be joy, love, and peace for eternity in the presence of Jesus. With that truth, know today may be hard, and you may be tasting the full extent of the hard that this world can bring like Job was. Just know in Jesus there is a peace that surpasses all the trials of this world. There is a future with God that is worth all that we face here. Keep your eyes today on the One that our eyes will be on for all eternity. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2631
Chapter 7
When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. Job 7:4- Sometimes the night is long. It can be longer than we every dreamed it could last or thought we could manage. When we find ourselves in the night, in the seasons of life where struggle and hardships are ever present, how can we make it through each moment that the night remains? One way is to give thanks for what is still with you in the night. Like the people that are in the night alongside you, or the fact doctors exist, or that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, or that eternal life in heaven is still awaiting you. When the night is closing in it’s so hard to be thoughtful and thankful of things like this, but they are the glimmer of light you need. Dwell on these things as you take your next step through your dark season. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1459
I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath. What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment? Job 7:16-18 – Job, deep in his pain and despair, is now directing his complaint to the Lord. Job understood the greatness of God and yet also understand the smallness of man. Why would a God so great and powerful, who is over all things and greater than all things, be so concerned with man who is so infinitesimal in the big picture? Could the sins of one man truly affect the God of creation? Yes. We too can find ourselves questioning why God would care so much about one or two “little” sins when there is so many other things more important to deal with in life. Could one sin from one man in the grand scheme of all things truly affect the God of the universe? Yes, and it can lead to His death on a cross. God is hurt and robbed by the sin of man. His creation is taken from Him because of sin, and He has courtside seats to the damage sin causes His children. So yes, God is going to be mindful of you today and will be watchful over how you allow sin to reign in your life. Not for the purpose of finally finding a reason to smite you, but to shepherd you away from the things that steal, kill, and destroy. Keep your eyes on the One today whose eyes are on you always. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2632
Chapter 8
Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish. His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider’s web. He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure. Job 8:13-15 – Imagine someone with a broken ankle who needs crutches to move around. Yet they get up and begin heading to the kitchen forgetting their crutches. Putting weight then on the broken ankle only leads to them falling over because it could hold them up. The thing they needed that would be able to hold them up they forgot. Such is it when we move forward yet forget to invite God along with us and seek out His direction. We’ll find ourselves leaning on things that can’t hold our weight, crashing then to the ground. Let us not then forget God. When we move, when we speak, when we serve, when we rest, never forget to acknowledge God is with you and lean on Him for support. How have you moved today yet forgot to acknowledge God’s presence with you? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1460
If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation. And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great. Job 8:5-7 – In this passage is some bad theology that we will see throughout the discourse of Job and his friends. This idea that if you are good and faithful to God, no harm or problems will come your way. You will be blessed, prosperous, and restored of all your possessions if you only follow God. While certainly those who follow God are blessed and God is able to restore, the end result of a faithful walk isn’t always worldly blessings and safety. Bildad the speaker tells Job to examine the ages past and see how God moved for the faithful then. When doing just that we do see many stories where the faithful were richly blessed, but we also see stories like Cain and Able where Able, though faithful, still was murdered by his brother. Know God is able today to bless and is able to restore, but our faithful pursuit of God isn’t always going to result in wealth and ease. Our promise from the Lord isn’t riches and glory on this earth, but a full life with Him today and forevermore. The blessing we can bank on from the Lord when we faithfully follow Him is Him, and having God in our story is more valuable than anything this world can offer. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2633
Chapter 9
There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both. Job 9:33 – This is not our case. While for Job he felt as if there was no arbiter, no mediator, no one to stand between the Father and himself to find peace, we do have that. Jesus is the great Mediator between us and the Father. He finds reconciliation between us and the Father and is our atonement for all the wrongdoings we’ve done. He speaks when we can’t speak and saves when we can’t even stand. When it’s says in verse 2, “But how can a man be in the right before God?” This only can happen for us with Jesus being our mediator. He makes us right before God. Let us then be filled with joy this morning that we have the opportunity to be right before our Holy God. Not as a result of any thing we did, but all because of Jesus our mediator. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1461
If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me. Job 9:30-31 – In our world today, especially post pandemic, we have learned some efficient ways to get ourselves clean. We have powerful soaps that can kill any germ that was even thinking about getting on us. We have pressure sprayers that can spray water so powerfully on things that it cuts metal. Here Job acknowledges that even the grandest ways of cleaning himself isn’t enough. Using snow, the purest of water they could think of, couldn’t clean himself from his sin. Using lye, the most powerful of soap they had, couldn’t clean himself of his sin either. If he tried to clean himself of his sin, even with the grandest of ways he could think of, he’d still be so spiritually dirty that even his own clothes wouldn’t want to hang on him. Such is our story with God today when it comes to the cleansing of our sin. No soap and water will cut it. No grand offerings to God from us will do it either. Only through the sacrifice of Jesus can we be clean and clothed in pure white garments. If your life has been about cleaning yourself up for God to win His affection, you’ve been scrubbing for nothing. Find yourself humbly coming before the God who does the washing for us. Know you can approach Him caked in sin, and He will embrace you and make you clean. He is the only one who can embrace a sinner, and instead of our dirt rubbing off on Him, His purity rubs off on us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2634
Chapter 10
You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose. Job 10:12-13 – One commentary I checked out said that Job here was believing in this moment that all the good things God had showed him up to this point was just to build him up for a greater fall. That the true purpose God had in His heart for Job was to punish and destroy him. I’m not sure if that’s exactly what this verse was meaning, yet it’s a good topic to look at today. We must believe this isn’t God’s heart, to build us up only so we can fall harder. If that was His purpose hidden in His heart for us why would heaven be a place He is inviting us to? Why would Jesus have died so we could have the option of life with Him? Life can for sure have hits that knock us down but we must realize God’s heart is not for us to be on the ground, face in the dirt. So when the hardship comes know God isn’t using His hands to push you down but to help you up. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1462
I will say to God, do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. Job 10:2 – Job is asking the question many of us ask in our times or suffering…why God? We must remember as we read this book that while we know what has taken place in chapters 1-2 between God and Satan, Job doesn’t. He doesn’t understand why all this is happening. In a commentary on this passage, Spurgeon shares an example, that while not applying to Job, can certainly apply to us as to why we might be experiencing suffering. He stated that many houses in Russian were infested with mice, but you wouldn’t know it just by looking. Yet when a house is on fire, the mice come streaming out in hoards. So is it with some sins we are unaware of or trying to hide. Until the heat comes, we may not be aware of the sin in our story, or we may not be willing to confess it and bring it to the light until the pressure comes. God then will allow such pressure to come for He knows pressure from Him is better than the infection of sin. While certainly not the only reason God allows hardship, which is a main theme of the book of Job, it is a tool God will use in our sanctification process. If then hardship as come upon you, start looking for the “mice” scurrying out and end them so they can’t return back into the dark places of the house. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2635
Chapter 11
For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God’s eyes.’ But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you, and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves. Job 11:4-6 – While this word for Job from his friend didn’t apply well to Job’s situation, it does for the rest of mankind. When we think of the hardships we go through in life, we must remember that if it wasn’t for Jesus we’d have much worse struggles coming our way. When we think of what our guilt and sin deserves it’s death and eternity away from a perfect God. That’s the end we deserve, but due to what Jesus did we too are exacted less than our guilt deserves. Rather than eternal life away from God it’s eternal life with God. Praise Jesus we don’t get from God what our guilt deserves. Praise Jesus for His amazing grace! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1463
You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away. Job 11:16 – Job is in the worst pain he has ever experienced in his life after losing so much of what he loved and after having his body so deeply afflicted. The misery is real and agonizing for Job, it was all-consuming to his mind to the point that he wished he had never been born. Now his “friend” tells him that God has the power to change all this and it will cause him to forget all this current misery. While again not applying to Job’s situation, the message from Zophar has some scriptural truth for us today. Our God is able to take us from our deepest of hurts to a place where we look back on those hurts as not a time of God’s absence, but of God’s provision. For all of us, there has been seasons in our past that were really, really hard. They broke us, they were debilitating times, and they were seasons we felt the lowest in. Yet now through God’s help, we are beyond those seasons. We aren’t in that brokenness like we were, and we aren’t at that low spot any longer. Instead of seeing that past season as a time of absence and lack of care from the Lord, we see how God provided and got us through to where we are today. Know then today, if you are in a season of hard, God has the power to take this misery you are feeling and wash it away. He can provide, He can rescue, and He loves. He can take you to a place beyond this hard time where you look back on this season not as a time only of hurt, but as a time where God helped when you needed His help. Lean on your Savior and let God show you His power in your story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2636
Chapter 12
If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. Job 12:14-15 – God has complete control. If a path is one we shouldn’t be on, He can put an end to it. If this place needs nurtured, He can do it. As one commentary even put it, if He chooses to shut the door of the grave, there is no escape. What we must not do though with this knowledge is fear God and be worried about how He is going to hurt us. Yes He’s in complete control, but He’s also deeply in love with us. That power is then used for our good and safety, not our harm. This is why as faithful followers of Jesus we can take steps of faith into the unknown because we have a God who is in control of the unknown and who loves us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1464
I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock. In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip. The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand. Job 12:4-6 – While receiving much advice and wisdom from his friends, Job reminds them that he is wise too. He knows the truths of God. He’s walked with God and knows the desire of God’s heart is for man to walk blameless in His sight. Yet right now Job feels like a fool, for all his beliefs are seemingly upside down. The righteous seem to be going unheard and punished, while the sinful seem to exist in peace and taste blessing. This too can be a heavy paradox we see and feel in our own story. Where our faithful lives seem to still be full of difficulty, but those not following Jesus seem to be doing just fine. We struggle with finances, yet they are making millions. The world sure seems to be having fun with the things we are told to stay away from. In this place, we need to find ourselves dwelling on the truth of Scripture. That God knows what is best, far beyond our understand can go. Also that God deeply loves us and His desire is our good. So when life seems to be favoring the sinful world rather than the faithful follower, remember who truly has God’s favor promised to them in the pages of scripture. Don’t allow the happenings of this world or the struggles you face dictate for you who God is, allow God in His world to do that for you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2637
Chapter 13
What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. Job 13:2 – Job isn’t holding back here when he speaks to his friends, but his words also aren’t unwarranted. His friends choose to speak before they fully understood what was happening and even before they understood where Job’s head was at in all this. Let’s be open to speaking into the lives of others, especially when they are going to trials. Let’s though be willing to spend the time necessary to gather all the details we can before laying out the to-do list for them on how to get out of the struggle. Be willing to listen, be willing to drop your preconceived ideas of why they are in the mess they are in, then speak the truth of scripture over them rather than just your own wisdom only. Not only will this help them feel heard but you can actually be a true help to them in their time of need. For we can say a lot of words to someone in need, but if it’s not what they need, we’ve wasted our breath. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1465
Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face. Job 13:15 – This is a powerful verse spoken from the mouth of Job. Though he was innocent of any severe type of sin to provoke such action from the Lord, though he felt the Lord was coming down on him too hard, though he was receiving silence back from the Lord after all his cries…Job still voiced his hope in God. Though the Lord was crushing him and he had no idea why, Job continued to place his faith in the Lord. While voiced, we still see the pain and grief in words of Job here. Yes, his hope was in God, but the confusion and pain were also still present. Are you today in a situation much like Job, or know someone who is? Where pain is severe, but a wrong done to deserve such pain isn’t known. Where it feels like the Lord is coming down too hard and there is seemingly no response back to our cries of confusion? Here is where our faith in the Lord can take a firmer grounding. “God, I don’t know why this pain is here, but I will choose to still hope in you. I don’t understand and I don’t see, but my faith remains in you and I trust you.” Hard words to say in the pain, but these are the words that will carry you through the pain. Will the Lord remain the place of your hope even in seasons like Job’s? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2638
Chapter 14
Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. Job 14:1 – Compare this passage to one Jesus spoke in John 16:33…”I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Neither Job or Jesus speaks against the idea that we’ll have trouble in life, in fact both right out speak the truth that we will face trouble in life. Whether you are a devote follower of God or not, trouble in life is a guarantee. What though do we also see coming out of Jesus’ message concerning trouble? That even in trouble we can have peace in Him and have the confidence He’s overcome all things. For Job, while surrounded by so many things trying to strip his focus off of God, this would have been his hope to. That God, even in the midst of trouble, brings peace and is over it all. Let this be your hope as well. Scripture doesn’t teach you won’t have trouble, it teaches we’ll have God with us through the trouble. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1466
Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. Job 14:1-2 – Job is acknowledging the true breath of life that man is able to have in the grand picture. Life is short and life is hard, and this life will end someday. While Job is wondering why a grand God would pay attention to man whose life is so short in the timeline of eternity, let us praise the Lord that He does. Yes, He sees all our sin and pays close attention to them, but our God has also looked closely enough to see our need for Him. Praise God that He is willing to offer life and forgiveness to man whose days are so few and the life we can offer back to Him is so small in comparison to what He offers us. If today you have found life and forgiveness from the Lord, take some time today to life up your praise to Him. You, one of billions of people in the story of creation, is loved, seen, and wanted by the God of the universe. That’s amazing! And if you haven’t found life and forgiveness from the Lord, know it’s available to you today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2639
Chapter 15
Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment. Job 15:31 – Here when Job’s friend speaks of emptiness he means things like power, riches, or honor. Things that people can trust in other than God. Job’s friend shared that those who trust in these sort of things find themselves in the end with nothing and after seeing all that happened to Job he assumed the emptiness Job had was a result of trusting in things other than God. What we must see is what is the end result of our trusting in something other than God, emptiness. No one wants the end result of all their efforts in life to be emptiness, so we must be willing to seek after and trust in someone that will give us more. Where then is your daily trust placed in? If you were honest and found out it wasn’t God, what has been the normal result you’ve found yourself with in life? Complete fulfillment or something relating more to emptiness? God is here and desires to fill your life with everything opposite of emptiness. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1467
Because he has stretched out his hand against God and defies the Almighty, running stubbornly against him with a thickly bossed shield; because he has covered his face with his fat and gathered fat upon his waist and has lived in desolate cities, in houses that none should inhabit, which were ready to become heaps of ruins…Job 15:25-28 – Eliphaz, the companion of Job that is speaking in the chapter, is seeking to prove to Job that all his previous success in life was just an illusion covering the depth of his sin. While in our day fat is not something we necessarily desire, nor do we see it as a sign of success, in Job’s day it would have been. Fat on you meant that you must have an abundance of food and that you didn’t have to work out in the field. Here Eliphaz is saying your fat, your success, has covered your eyes Job and is hiding the sin that must be present in his life, and now that the “fat” is gone, we can all see that sin must have been present. Remember that much of what is said to Job doesn’t apply to Job’s situation, but it can apply to our story. “Fat” can cover our faces to the real sin hiding beneath. Whether in our life or someone else’s, we can see worldly success and assume God’s blessing that life. Yet this is not the message of scripture. We see many deep in sin who are deeply successful, and we see many who are deeply holy yet experiencing the worst of hardships. A lesson that we can takeaway from this passage is don’t assume that someone who is finding success is always following God. A church may look great from the outside, but have sin deep within it. A marriage may look good, but have deep wounds being covered up by sin. Investigate behind the fat, and allow your footsteps to follow the example of the holy and not just the successful. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2640
Chapter 16
He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me. Job 16:9 – Job here didn’t believe that God hated him, just that he was being dealt with as if God did. The trouble and pain that was ever present in Job’s story looked like it was the result of God’s hatred, the result of an adversary working against him. Yet is Job here thinking God is this adversary? His friends? Satan? It’s not fully clear exactly where Job’s head is at in the moment, but when we are in moments like these we must remember who the real adversary is. When our life looks like it’s the result of someone hating us, know it isn’t God who is giving out the hatred. He deeply loves you, but Satan does hate you. He wants to destroy your life and make you believe God is the one pouring out the hate. Don’t allow that lie of Satan be one you take to heart. Life can be immensely difficult, but it’s never difficult because God is pouring out His hatred on you. Remember who is the real adversary to your story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1468
I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you and shake my head at you. I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain. Job 16:4-5 – Job is now responding back to his miserable comforters. He makes it known that if the roles were reversed, and they were the ones in such deep pain, he too could speak like they do. He could say condemning words, he could speak without learning about their situation, he could shake his head in disgust at them. Yet, he wouldn’t do that. Now that he has tasted this depth of hurt, he understands the value of using his mouth to strengthen those in pain and to use his words to make their pain less intense. This is a one of the precious things that can come out of our own hardship we walk through in life, a compassion for others in pain. When we’ve tasted the depth of pain this world can bring, we also gain an understanding of how precious an encouraging word is or how a loving, non-judgmental hug can be exactly what is needed. Whatever you longed for from others in your times of pain, be sure to give that out to others in their pain. No, you may not have been shown grace, love, or kind words like you should have, but that doesn’t mean we have the right to withhold it from others when they are in pain. Remember how God has shown grace and love towards us when we didn’t deserve it. Rather than letting the miserable comforters of your pain dictate how you love others in their pain, allow Jesus to be the example you follow. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2641
Chapter 17
If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Job 17:13-15 – What has become of this hope you’ve told me to entertain my thoughts on? This is basically what Job is saying back to his friend’s words. Job didn’t see there being any ending other than death for himself. He settled in his mind this was where things were going. While his friend’s words weren’t great for Job, the message to always seek out hope in the darkness is something to listen to. Yes, death is guaranteed to all of us, but until we breathe our last there is hope to be found in Christ. This hope also doesn’t end after that last breath, we just fully step into it then. When the lie then comes over you that you’ve lost all hope and death, whatever that looks like, is all you have in front of you, remember with Jesus there is always hope to latch onto. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1469
Lay down a pledge for me with you; who is there who will put up security for me? Job 17:3 – As these chapters continue, we see a continuing of Job’s energy and hope being exhausted. In this chapter we see how he felt death was close to him, and help and justice seemed far from him. Here in verse three Job is now crying out to God. Job is acknowledging that nothing on earth can save and protect him. Job is clearly seeing he can’t rely on his friends to comfort and save him. Job is even seeing his own righteousness can’t save him. Job needed something greater than this world and greater than himself to rescue him, so he cried out to the God who is greater than all. We all will need to come to this same realization Job came to, hopefully though we don’t have to go through all that Job did to learn it. God is the only one that can save and restore. The world and its offerings can’t save us, nor can any person in our life. The security for our life comes in and through Jesus alone. Praise the Lord that we have a God great enough to save us! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2642
Chapter 18
Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, such is the place of him who knows not God. Job 18:21 – This whole passage speaks on what’s to come for those who oppose God and turn from following His ways. In some ways we can feel like we want to cheer reading some of these verses when we consider the people in the world doing true evil. We see they will face a stern punishment for their wrong doing. Yet at the same time we must realize that same punishment will be placed one our loved ones who don’t follow God’s ways either. See maybe our heart shouldn’t cheer, but break knowing anyone is going to have to face the consequences of their sin. Our role in this life is to help people see the value of following God’s way. To help our loved ones and to help those who are doing true evil in this world. God’s heart is that none should have to face His wrath, our heart should seek the same. Who then is someone you at think should deserve God’s wrath, being exempt from His forgiveness, and ask yourself if God longs for that as well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1470
He is torn from the tent in which he trusted and is brought to the king of terrors. In his tent dwells that which is none of his; sulfur is scattered over his habitation. Job 18:14-15 – Bildad, one of the miserable comforters of Job, is now speaking in response to Job’s words and everything he is seeing about Job’s situation. In Bildad’s eyes, if Job is experienced what he is experiencing, it must mean he is a wicked man who is deeply in sin. For according to Bildad, only wicked men deal with struggles like this, and since Job is dealing with these sorts of struggles, that is evidence enough that Job is wicked. We must be willing to see the bigger picture than Bildad did when it comes to the struggles we face or those around us face. There is certainly truth to the idea that those in sin find themselves experiencing deep struggles because of their sin. Yet to categorize everyone in a struggle as a wicked person deep in sin is a false way to think. Job wasn’t being punished for his sin but was in a struggle. Jesus felt severe pain and struggle on the cross but was sinless. Paul found himself in hardship all while giving his life wholly to the mission field. If then today you are facing a hardship, be willing to seek the Lord out for His reason for allowing such a hardship to come your way. Yes, it may be to correct your path away from sin, but it also may be for another reason. Be willing to as well to search out that same answer when it comes to other’s struggles in life and don’t immediately assume it’s because they are in deep sin. God’s ways are higher than our ways, and thankfully He welcomes our seeking out of His ways. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2643
Chapter 19
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God… Job 19:25-26 – Job here expressed he still believed God was his redeemer, the one who would save him and make all things right. Yet he didn’t limit the saving to only while breath was within him but knew God’s true redeeming comes after we pass. Sometimes we can find ourselves believing the only redemption we need is from the current struggle we are in. If only God would save me from this current pain then I’d know my Redeemer lives. That though isn’t always how God works and the saving from the current pain isn’t how God always moves. Sometimes the redemptive power of God is felt and seen only after this life is over. The point is don’t believe our Redeemer has left us because our pain remains or even if we lose the one we were asking for His healing on. Just because our hands may not be able to work in their life anymore, that doesn’t mean God’s hands can’t. Let’s rejoice knowing we have a God that works on an eternal timetable. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1471
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25 – After being verbally accused and attacked by his three “friends” and after crying out to the Lord and finding no response, Job truly feels alone. No help has come and no help is presently at the door waiting to come in. He is in his pain and loss with no one to comfort him. Yet, he knew his Redeemer lives. This was a big statement coming from Job who was at the point of longing for death. That while in a season of deep hurt and silence from the Lord, Job still knew God would be his redeemer. God would come to defend his cause, to avenge the wrong done against him, and clear him of all guilt. And because He lives, Job knew he could face tomorrow. Because his Redeemer lives, all fear was gone and life was still worth living. This mindset of Job in the midst of such pain is essential, yet so difficult. Ideally you’d have loving people speaking into you, reminding you of your Redeemer and His power. Yet, like with Job, that won’t always be the case. Let’s choose today to have this Job mindset each day, in the good and bad. To know that our God lives, that He is able to save, and that He will save. From whatever pain or hurt or hardship or death may be at our doorstep. Let’s believe that our Redeemer lives and He is active in our story, whether we see it or not. He has already come into our deepest of messes and saved us from our sin showing us He is able and that He loves. Praise the Lord that our God is alive and loves us! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2644
Chapter 20
He will suck the poison of cobras; the tongue of a viper will kill him. Job 20:16 – What a mental image this verse gives. As obviously ridiculous as we may think an action like this is we must remember what it’s referring to. This image is given to describe what is actually happening in the life of someone who continues to turn to and entertain sinfulness. That at first there might be a thrill and even a small satisfying of their needs for a moment, but what’s being poured into their life as a result is going to kill them. Sin is venom that may go down smoothly but will destroy anyone it finds itself in. Rather than thinking of other people who are ingesting venom, being in disbelief on why they would continue to do something so ridiculous, what snake’s venom are you sucking on? What venom have you welcomed in? Know before any anti-venom can be given, the snake must first stop bitting you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1472
The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God’s wrath. This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God. Job 20:27-29 – Zophar, another one of Job’s miserable comforters, speaks a second time. While his speech was thoughtfully crafted, and generally a true statement about the future of the wicked, it once again did not apply to Job’s unique situation. Zophar’s point was that what is sweet in the mouth of the wicked today will eventually turn sour. The highs and the joys of sin are sort lived and the judgement on their wickedness is something no one can escape. God longs for us to grasp this truth about sin. Sin offers wonderful feelings and some intense highs, but sin also does everything it can to blind you to the inevitable crash saying yes to it results in. God though, in His deep love for us, has brought scripture into our lives to help us see the full picture of sin. God is not denying that sin is worldly “fun.” I even heard a pastor once say that if you don’t think sin is enjoyable, they you hadn’t sinned good enough. Our enemy has done far too good of a job at making sin pleasing to the eyes and enjoyable for the moment. Yet our God is in the business of opening our eyes beyond that moment of enjoyment to the terror of destruction sin brings and the eternal death it can cause us too. Be willing to break up with the sin in your story. The moments of enjoyment aren’t worth the wreckage that follows. Instead say yes to the path of holiness and taste the joy that follows a life devoted to Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2645
Chapter 21
They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ Job 21:14-15 – Are you ready for a response back like this? While here there seemed to be some harshness within the words, the questions are legitimate questions people will have. What is the Almighty that you speak of that we should give ourselves to Him? What is it that we get out of praying to Him? Why should we acknowledge and follow what you say about Jesus? Are you ready to have a healthy conversation back after a response like that? Right now is the time to be thinking about what you’d say and how you’d help them see the value of God in their story. Now, before the questions are asked, is your time to be preparing for the proper answer you can give to them. Will you ever be fully prepared? Of course not, but we can at least do what we can so we don’t have to fear conversations like this. What then can you do today to ready yourself more? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1473
They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol. Job 21:13 – Job is now speaking about the contradiction in life that he has seen…that the wicked prosper. What would make sense is those who live holy prosper in life and the wicked see lack instead, but Job speaks about how that is often flipped around. The wicked prosper all their days. Their houses are safe, their families grow, and their days are filled with prosperity. And many die in peace, not having to suffer like Job who was instead living righteously. How does any of that make sense? It only makes sense when we see life from an eternal perspective rather than simply a worldly perspective. While a person, who is living in rejection of God all their earthly life, may still find prosperity all their life and die in peace, sadly what awaits them in the afterlife is worse than any suffering Job tasted. So yes, followers of God may suffer in this life and those who don’t follow God may prosper in all their days on earth. Our lives though aren’t just what happens here, but also what happens in eternity. The momentary pains of this world are nothing in comparison to the future glory that is heaven for believers in Christ. Jesus followers have not gotten the bad deal here in life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2646
Chapter 22
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless? Job 22:3 – Yes, of course it’s a pleasure to God when we begin to walk in His ways, but that’s not exactly what this passage is asking. The question asked is do we contribute to God’s level of happiness and goodness by our goodness. Do we add to God’s goodness by our following of His ways and when we don’t we diminish His goodness in someway? That answer is a hard no. Our actions, whether good or bad, don’t change God in who He is and His amount of goodness. What our faithful actions do is please Him though. It shows Him we trust Him and believe He is the right one to follow in life. Our unfaithful actions tell Him the opposite. So live today knowing God is unchanging. Whether you are good or bad won’t change the person of God, it does though for God define the type of relationship you want with Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac- Daily DEVO 1474
Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. Job 22:21-22 – The one who is speaking now is Eliphaz, and while starting off his talk in cruelty and speaking falsehoods about Job, he ends his talk with a true call for repentance from Job. Job needed to agree with God about his sin, and if he would do that, he would find the peace he was looking for with the Lord. While once again this advice didn’t apply to Job’s unique situation, it is a true call for us today. We are to receive the words from the Lord and take them deeply into our lives. We are to agree with the Lord that we have sin in our life and that we need to find His forgiveness, and when we do, we’ll find peace with God. As I read this passage and write this devotion today, my mind goes to what will be happening in a few couple hours here at our church. I’ll be helping with a funeral for a man in our church that found peace with the Lord. He listened to the words of the Lord, agreed with the Lord, and found peace with the Lord. Today my prayer is that you too will find peace with God. Know that peace will only come through the salvation of our souls by Jesus Christ. Listen to the words of scripture, agree with the Lord about your sin, and seek the forgiveness that only God can give. Peace with God is available to you today. Don’t wait, for tomorrow is not guaranteed. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2647
Chapter 23
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; he would pay attention to me. Job 23:6 – Job is speaking about if he were to appear before God and plead his case what would happen. Job knows God wouldn’t crush him. God wouldn’t use His great power to overwhelm and shut Job down. God would would listen, pay attention, and offer help. This is a characteristic of God that we too need to acknowledge. When confused, frustrated, or disappointed about how and why things in our story are going, know God is open to listening to our words. He isn’t going to shut down His child who comes to Him sincerely, even if in the sincerity is confusion and frustration. While God has the power to crush us, He uses His power to lift us close to Him so we know we’re heard by Him. So bring your cares to Him because He cares for you. On a side note though, if God is so willing to listen to us, let us be willing to listen closely to Him too. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1475
I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. Job 23:12 – Job couldn’t have responded any clearer to his friends who were accusing him of great and terrible sins. “I have not departed from the commandment of his (God’s) lips.” In fact, I have treasured the words of God more than the food in front of me. As I read this passage today, my wife and I have started together an effort to eat healthier and exercise more. I’m imagining a fresh apple fritter in front of me (my favorite dessert if you didn’t know!), and the desire I would have to eat it and how much of a treasure that dessert is to me. Let’s though go another step further, imagine someone not eating for two weeks and then given a plate of food. That meal would be a blessing upon blessings to them! Now what if they said, “I treasure God’s word to me more than this meal”? That if they’d have to give up one, they’d give up that meal to have God’s word. How is our passion towards the word of God? Do we treasure it like this? Would we set aside some other treasure to have the treasure of God’s word? How are we setting aside God’s word and giving all our time to something far less valuable? Let’s do a heart check today to see what we are allowing to be more of a treasure to us than God’s word. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2648
Chapter 24
From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong. Job 24:12 – When we see injustice in our world, we too can think like Job did within our passage that God isn’t handling it properly. That He is missing the wrong or worse seeing the wrong but is doing nothing about it. Know God is aware of the injustice in the world and know He has done something about it. He’s told us that each person will one day face the consequences of their actions here on earth. He’s given us scripture to know what is right and wrong in His eyes. One more thing He has done is given the world you. He’s empower, guided, and commissioned us to be His hands and feet in the world to help those in need. Who then may actually be at fault is those God has told to step up but have refused to step up. Yes, God sees the injustice, but the next question is have you? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1476
Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain. Job 24:22-24 – In this chapter Job is struggling deeply with this overly evident in life problem that the wicked seem to never taste the punishment of their works. They keep working in the darkness with no light being shown on their deeds and no judgement comes their way. They prosper off the backs of others, and nothing is done to stop them. Even though God see all that happens, He isn’t doing anything according to Job. Yet here at the end of his spiel, Job echoes the words of Psalm 73. Psalm 73:16-17 “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.” The psalmist, struggling with the same issue as Job, was about to give up, but then entered into the sanctuary of the Lord, and everything made since. Sometimes we too like Job and the psalmist won’t understand why God does what He does, or why He doesn’t do some of the things we know he can do. As we though draw closer to the Lord, we can begin to understand His working better. God is inviting us into His sanctuary to dwell with Him and to learn. If then you are confused at why God is moving in such a way in your life, or if you are angry at God for a path of action He chose to take, know His sanctuary is open to you. Pray, read scripture, speak to another believer; find time with God where you bring this to Him and allow Him to show you His reasons. If the answers you’re looking for don’t come in this life, have confidence that when this life is over and we enter into His heaven, all things will be made clear. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2649
Chapter 25
How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm! Job 25:4-6 – Jesus. That’s how man can become pure and right before God. For God did not consider us maggots and worms but precious creations of His that He longed to call His children. Jesus came and died so we could be right before God. Know it’s only through Jesus that we can be right before God. Your best of actions and faithfulness won’t earn you any righteousness before God which is why Jesus was so necessary for us to be with God. So this Christmas season when you think of pure little baby Jesus, know His purity bought you your own purity. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1477
How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm! Job 25:4-6 – The answer? Only through Jesus. Bildad, while a little disgusting in his explanation, isn’t wrong in his understanding. Man outside of God is not clean or holy. There is no way for a man to be right or become right in God’s eyes on their own. In order for any person to be right in God’s eyes, we need someone to come and make us right in God’s eyes. That someone is Jesus, and Jesus alone. No faithful act on our part can make us holy. No preacher or parent can make someone right with God. Only Jesus, through His sacrificial death and His glorious resurrection, can make someone holy and right with God. Have you then been seeking your holiness with God through something/someone else other than Jesus? Has doing good works been your path to holiness? Has relying on the prayers and life of someone else been your path to righteousness? If so, acknowledge those paths only lead to death, and only through Jesus can you find life. If you’d like to learn more about how to truly be right with God through Jesus, reach out! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2650
Chapter 26
Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand? Job 26:14 – Our chapter speaks of the great things God does in our world. Such as binding up the waters in the clouds, hanging the earth in space, creating the heavens, and covering the face of the moon. We are amazed at His greatness in these things, but in our passage Job speaks of these as just His whispers, just a small glimpse we get of His power. Then Job asks if these are His whispers, what if God spoke in a thunderous voice? Who could stand or understand? We must remember even the greatest of things we’ve seen God do in our story is but a whisper of His power and He has a thunderous amount of power we haven’t even seen. Let’s not underestimate what God can do then in our world and our own story too. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1478
He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them. He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud. Job 26:7-9 – Job, in speaking of the greatness of God, reveals his wisdom on creation. He knew how the earth hung in space on nothing, unlike ancient mythologies of the day that said the earth rested on the backs of elephants or giant turtles. He was in awe how rain could be stored up in the clouds and how God was able to cover the moon in darkness. Now for us in the 21st century, we have learned all the science behind all this. We know about gravity, cloud formations, and the moon’s rotation around the earth. Yet even with the technical knowledge about things, we still ought to find ourselves in awe of our God. When we see a sunset and know our hands had nothing to do with it. When we hear a baby laugh, and we think of all the wonders that took place in the womb to create such a life. When we stare at the night sky and know we are barely even seeing the beginning of all that is out there in the universe. When we see all that, let’s find ourselves in awe of God again. Like Job stated, all we can see and know is just a whisper of God’s greatness. Take time today to just ponder on the greatness of our God, and allow that pondering to remind you that all your struggles are easily handled by such a great God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2651
Chapter 27
He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone. Job 27:19 – One night can change everything. Here Job is speaking about the wicked and how hopeless their future is. While they may thrive one day, all it takes is one moment and all the wealth and things they took pleasure in can be gone. What also can be stripped away in a moment is the life inside us. This pushes us to talk again on how important it is you have your life built on something that a moment or night can’t take away. Be sure you are building on your walk with God today; He is the only thing that can’t be stripped away from us. Health, wealth, people, and sinful pleasures can be taken away in a moment leaving us crumbling to the ground if that was what we were leaning on. Place your hope in something better than all that. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1479
As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit. Job 27:2-4 – Job established his awareness that this season of his life, and all the pains, have been allowed to come his way by the Lord. Despite that acknowledgment though, Job wasn’t swaying from his efforts to live faithfully for the Lord. He will continue to speak truth and have no deceit leave his lips. For while God was the one powerful enough to bring such devastation, He also would be the one powerful enough to bring restoration. As we grow in our walk with the Lord, one aspect that will develop is our understanding of God sovereignty. We will grow in our understanding of how God truly is over all things and in all things. If then God has allowed such a heavy season to come our way, knowing He had the authority and power to keep it from coming our way, then God must have His purpose. We will trust His wisdom and trust that if He was powerful enough to allow this to come our way, He’ll be powerful enough to heal and save too. Keep in mind through every season of hard that God’s desire is communion with us and our obedience to His word. Trust He knows what He is doing even if your situation doesn’t make sense. Keep your eyes upon Jesus and seek out His word to discover Him in the hard. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2652
Chapter 28
But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Job 28:12 – Job goes into a poetic speech about how man digs deep into the earth to find precious gems, but then asks where can wisdom be found? Where can wisdom, the thing that is far greater and more precious than any gem, be found? In the last verse of our chapter we see wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Wisdom is with God and those who seek Him find the ultimate source of wisdom. Imagine mining deep in a cave and you break through a wall to find yourself in a new cave with the walls covered in diamonds. That’s the image we should have when it comes to wisdom and seeking out God for He is the source of true wisdom. Scripture tells us over and over that wisdom is more precious than any earthly possession, yet when was the last time wisdom was a request you made to God for? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1480
God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. Job 28:23 – Job starts this chapter by declaring the amazing feats that man had accomplished. Man had been able to dig to the deepest of places in earth and find the most precious of things. Gold, jewels, silver, and all the treasures one could seek after. Man had been able to light up the darkest of places and had been able to find the most difficult of things to find. Yet wisdom, that was something man on his own couldn’t find. Man could dig deep into the earth, or create the most elaborate contraptions, but man could never find wisdom or the path to it. God though knows the path to wisdom and He knows where wisdom can be found. He Himself is the source of His wisdom. So while we can be so skilled at digging and searching, all we have to do to find the precious resource of wisdom, is simply to look up to our God. Know godly wisdom isn’t going to be found anywhere else outside of God. Thankfully our God is ready to share His wisdom with His children. We can study His word, listen to those more mature in the faith, and we can speak directly to Him in prayer. Today, if then you are in need of godly wisdom, know it’s location is God and Him alone. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2653
Chapter 29
Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent… Job 29:2-4 – Job here speaks of the days when God was with Him and when God watched over Him. He speaks of these days as they were something He was in yet now not anymore. Due to how bad everything was going in his life he thought the hand of God was no longer watching over him. Is that a common feeling you have? That God isn’t with you and isn’t watching over you anymore and the proof of that is all the bad stuff happening in your life? What scripture teaches is that God never leaves or forsakes us. His love reaches past our mistakes and His grace is never ending. In life we are going to taste some rough seasons, but the roughness isn’t proof God isn’t with us. It’s proof we need a good God to lean on and trust in. Believe that God isn’t leaving you and forgetting about you when you place your faith in Him. We’ll yes still taste the bitterness of life sometimes as followers of God, but we can have confidence He is with us in the same way when life is good and when life is bitter. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1481
The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. Job 29:13-16 – In this chapter, Job longs for his life prior to this whole season he was currently in. When God’s closeness was felt by him and when blessings flowed like steams of oil. To contrast all the defaming ways his three friends spoke about Job, he uses this space to remind them the of the sort of man he was prior to all the suffering. A man who would search out the cause of the needy and stand up for the widow. A man who would be eyes for the blind and feet for the lame. Not the wicked man his friends assumed he must be due to such heavy sufferings coming to Job. What we see though from Job is a reminder of what our life ought to look like when we are so richly blessed. We ought to be a blessing to others. If we have eyes, let’s use them to help others see what they are not. If we have feet, let’s help those that are stuck right now. If we have strength, let’s use it for those who have none. Being “richly blessed” doesn’t just have to mean financially. So much of what we have would be considered a massive blessing to have by someone else. Whether it’s the example of Job, or other individuals in scripture who used their blessings for others, or even God Himself, let’s imitate such an example within our own life. Let’s be a blessing to others since we have been so richly blessed. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2654
Chapter 30
I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. Job 30:20 – While today’s message may seem like one you already know, Job was a righteous man and was in need of a reminding of this. That God does hear you, but doesn’t answer always exactly like we ask Him to. Job cries out to God but doesn’t see or feel any healing taking place. That then translated to him that God was just standing there watching Job suffer, not doing anything to help. We too can cry out like Job and we too can find ourselves still in the struggle after our cries have been made. That though doesn’t mean God is just sitting there watching with no plans to help us. He is working, always working. A part of that work though might be “leaving us in the fire” a little longer. From our vantage point it doesn’t make sense, but from His it does. Trust then in Him when the cries are made yet no changes are made. Trust He heard you, trust He’s working, and trust good will come from the struggle. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1482
Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help? Job 30:24 – Job has now been in his place of suffering for a while. The image given in this chapter is a man, cast out into the city dump, with a decaying body, who is mocked by the children of worthless men. Such a vast contrast to the honor and prosperity Job had that we see unpacked in the previous chapter. Here, in this deep place of suffering, Job is crying out to the Lord for help, yet what he is receiving in return from the Lord is silence. When suffering is deep, and truly the only possible outcome that you can see for yourself is death at the end of it, and your cries for rescue are not answered…that’s a pretty sad space to be in. Let us though be willing to fast forward to the end of Job’s story. God does answer and God’s blessing is above and beyond anything Job had before. When then we experience silence from the Lord, don’t take it as evidence for God’s displeasure in you or his lack of care for you. God hears our cries and He is working. Yes, sometimes God will use silence to open our eyes to a sin within our life that needs to be addressed and repented of, but even in that God is working to bring your focus back on Him rather than the sin you’ve been saying yes to. If then you are receiving silence from God like Job is here, be willing to check your heart and see if any sin is presence. If so, bring that to the Lord. If not, then be willing to trust the God you’re calling out to has a purpose for His silence. Don’t confuse silence with stillness. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2655
Chapter 31
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown… Job 31:36 – Here is Job’s big “then” statement to all his “If” ones. Job in the passage says if I walked in lies, or if I looked on a woman wrongly, or if I pushed aside the needs of someone, then rightfully so I should have the punishment in my life I am facing today. How though is your attitude with something like this? Often we see the norm is trying to do everything we can to get out of carrying on our shoulders the punishment for what we did, Job though is open to carrying it. Why? Because Job understood how wrong and hurtful sin is. If he actually did any of those things, then he deserved to be punished in his eyes. Let’s not downplay the wrong of sin in our life. It has a deadly cost, one that was already laid on someone’s shoulders for you. While Jesus has taken the burden of sin for us, let’s remember sin always has a high price tag and will always be carried on someone’s shoulders. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1483
Does not he see my ways and number all my steps? Job 31:4 – We gain a better understanding of Job’s confusion and frustration in this final appeal. “Does not the Lord see my life and how I act and how I walk,” is essentially what Job is asking here. The chapter then has verse after verse that begin with “If I have…” If I have walked with falsehood, if I have rejected the cause of a manservant, if I have look lustfully at another woman, if I had made gold my trust. If Job had done any or all these things, then he would understand why God would be dealing with him so severely, the confusion for Job was he knew he hadn’t sinned in any of these ways. Did the Lord not see that Job’s life didn’t include any of those things? Of course God saw, God knew full well the righteous life of Job. And God also sees our life to. He sees every holy step we take in pursuit of Him and He sees every faithless step we take after sin. God sees. Acknowledge this ever-present sight of God and let it change our relationship to sinful things. If God truly does see, would you still allow your hands to go there? If God knows, would you still allow your mind to dwell there? God isn’t seeking to scare us into submission here with His presence, but He is inviting us to change our ways. If the One who loves us most that we love most is right here with us, then why would we say yes to something that would hurt our relationship with them? While God sees, let your actions show the Lord you also see Him and are choosing Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2656
Chapter 32
And shall I wait, because they do not speak, because they stand there, and answer no more? Job 32:16 – Imagine sitting there this whole time just watching and listening to this whole conversation happen between Job and his three friends but not being able to speak up or say anything. Culturally Elihu did what was right and waited for the older people to have their time, then did what was right and spoke up as well. We too need to make sure we are speaking up and standing up when no one else does. Maybe some injustice is taking place or a friend is walking towards something harmful. Sometimes it’s not our place to step in, but if we see no one else stepping up or saying anything, then we must be ready to if that’s what God is laying on our heart to do. Sometimes our silence is needed yet other times it’s our voice that needs to be heard. Keep prayerful about which is needed in certain situations and be available to speak if that’s what God leads you to do. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1484
For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me. Job 32:18 – Elihu finally speaks. Who is Elihu you ask? Apparently he was another guy sitting with Job and Job’s three friends during this whole back and forth debate. He was much younger though than the other four in the room so he stayed quiet letting the older men speak as a sign of respect. Yet, after listening to the back and forth dialogue and seeing that it was going nowhere, and with the words Elihu thought should be said not being said, Elihu explodes with words and anger. He speaks for six chapters straight, not giving space for anyone to respond or speak. He has the longest speech out of anyone in the book, including God himself. Finally though, Job and three friends had something to agree on, this kid was out of line. Let us take note of how we speak, when we speak, and what we speak when we do speak up. We’ll touch on the content of Elihu’s speech over the next few days, but here, let us learn that sometimes stillness and silence are needed. Speaking up isn’t always the wisest option. This isn’t giving us an out when God is calling us to speak into a situation, it’s reminding us that sometimes God is calling us to remain quiet. If anger, lack of respect, or pride is the fuel behind the speech, it would be better to remain silent. Let us not tear down one another with our words or give our Savior a poor representation with our speech. Be willing to listen to the Spirit’s lead on such things. If He says speak, then speak. If He says be still, be still. Allow your habit to be a searching of His leading. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2657
Chapter 33
Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life. Job 33:29-30 – God does what here? Speaks, leads, gives visions to, and disciplines the life of those who are His. For what purpose? To keep the lives of those He loves away from the pit of death so they may have joy in life. In short what is being told to Job here is that God works in these ways, as difficult as they may be in the present time, to keep us heading in the right direction of life and peace. God’s hand in your story may feel heavy just like it was in Job’s. Heaviness though also means He’s present. Meaning when you feel this sort of pressure in life it’s God reminding you He’s with you. Keep then close to heart His end goal with the pressure: your good and His glory. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1485
…then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness. He sings before men and says: ‘I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me. He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.’ Job 33:26-28 – Elihu, the young, prideful man speaking is now speaking directly to Job. While boastful and conceited, and misunderstanding Job’s situation like the three miserable comforters, Elihu does drop a beautiful truth here within his windy speech. He shows what life is like beyond a prayer of repentance to God. That God accepts him, and that God is joyful about seeing his face. God will restore those who come to Him to right standing with Him so they can freely be in His presence. The person will sing with a glad heart how their sin, no matter how vile it may have been, is no longer being held against them. Hell is not their future, but the God of all light and holiness is. Know today this promise still stands for any and all who call upon the name of the Lord. Pray, tell the Lord of your choice to turn from your sin, and you want to follow Him and His ways instead. Know you will be heard and know you will be saved. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2658
Chapter 34
If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust. Job 34:14-15 – Our thoughts may have not gone too deep today on God’s Spirit and breath in the world, but what we see here is that if removed from our world nothing could remain. It’s too easy to navigate through our day not thinking much of how integral God is to each and every part. Yet stop for a moment and think about what would happen if God did what this passage suggests. What would our life look like if God gathered to Himself all the things He brings to the world? All life, all joy, all peace, and goodness, all hope. Nothing could remain if He did that. Let’s take a moment then today to be thankful that God isn’t gathering His Spirit and breath from us today. Instead He chooses to continue to breathe life into us and fill us with His Spirit. We truly do have a loving God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1486
Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong. Job 34:10 – Ehilu, still in his long-winded speech, now seeks to teach/remind Job an everlasting truth about God. That God does no wrong. If God does no wrong, then all this suffering can’t be His fault, so the only other person in the equation would be Job, so it must be His wickedness that caused all this. Once again, Job’s unique situation is not being considered here, and as a result he is being falsely condemned of sin that he did not commit. This truth though about God is one we can embrace and take to heart during all seasons in life. Our God does no wrong, nor is He wicked in anyway. While that is a simple message to read today, sometimes it can be a hard one to accept. When we see the horrors in our world or the hurt in our lives, we can begin to question this truth about God. Yet what if we held fast to this truth about God, and allowed it to open our eyes to other factors at play in why such wickedness is present? Maybe we would see a sin in our story that is causing such hurt, maybe we’d see the bigger picture God is working for, maybe we’d see the hand of the enemy we were blinded to. If scripture says something is true, we can bank on it being true, even if life seems to speak a different message. Allow then that truth of scripture, whatever it may be, to become a lens you see the world through. As you look through such a lens, we will see over and over how true the messages of scripture are. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2659
Chapter 35
If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand? Job35:6-7 – It took some studying for me to fully grasp what was being said here, so let’s see if I can help you understand it too. The question that’s being asked is if we sin, how does that change God? Or if we are faithful, how does that benefit Him? It’s asking what does our being bad or being good give to God to help or hurt Him? The answer is nothing. Of course our unfaithfulness and rebellion saddens God and our faithfulness pleases Him, but neither changes the nature of God. He doesn’t need us to be faithful to exist and our unfaithfulness doesn’t diminish His glory. We don’t add or subtract anything from who God is by the way we live, He’s above all that. So why then does it matter how we live and why does He care so much? Because while the way we live doesn’t change Him, it does change us and the nature of our walk with Him. He wants the best life for us and the strongest walk He can have with us. This is why He is so invested in our faithfulness to Him. This is why He was willing to do everything Christmas is all about. Not for His growth and benefit, but ours. So when God grabs your heart on something in your life or disciplines you in some way, know it’s not for Him He’s doing it, it’s for you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1487
Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty. But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’ Job 35:9-11 – Continuing his speech to Job, Elihu brings up a unique point about man’s heart when he cries out to the Lord for help. When saying “none says, ‘Where is God my Maker,” he isn’t saying that no one every cries out for help, but that no one truly cries out to the Lord in sincerity. They are just looking for a way out of their trouble, and will take whatever path arises out, even if that path isn’t the God they cried out to. For Elihu, this is why Job wasn’t hearing from God, because Job wasn’t being sincere in his desire for God’s help. Job just wanted out of the pain. While once again we have to remember that Elihu had so much wrong about Job and his situation, this concept he brings up can have something we can glean off it. What is our sincerity level when we cry out to God for help? Are we only looking for a means out of the pain, or are we allowing this painful situation to be an environment that we can draw closer to our Redeemer? I think how we can discover the answer to that question is asking what do we do with God after we are rescued from the pain? Do we further our pursuit of Him and declare His wonderful works to the world, or do we go back to living our life without a looking to Him until the next trial comes? God is seeking after followers that will follow Him before, during, and after hardships. Ones that will acknowledge Him as their Maker, as the one that gives them a song in the night, and the one that gives wisdom at all times, not just in the hard times. Let that be said of us today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2660
Chapter 36
He opens their ears to instruction and commands that they return from iniquity. If they listen and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness. But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword and die without knowledge. Job 36:10-12 – God makes clear to us His ways, it’s our choice what we do with what we hear from Him. Scripture is telling us that God makes ways for us to hear Him and His directions. Maybe it’s through time in His Word, or God speaks through someone in our life, or as scripture tells us even creation itself tells us of His greatness. God opens our ears for us to hear and the message is being given. What we do with it is on us. Do we follow Him? Do we go our own way? We see here even in these verses the end result of both, but do we believe we know better? If Christmas tells us anything it speaks of how clearly God wanted to speak to us and open our ears to hear His love and will for us. God has spoken to you through Jesus’ birth that what He wants is the best for you. Now that He is continuing to open your ears and continuing to speak to you, why would He desire anything different now than your good? Open your ears, listen to His Word, and seek to follow it with all you have. In that pursuit is the life you’ve been searching and longing for. Merry Christmas everyone! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1488
Bear with me a little, and I will show you, for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf. Job 36:2 – Elihu must have been able to tell his listeners were getting tired of his longwinded, wordy speech so he begs them to bear with him a little longer. When talking with people about God and about salvation, we must be willing to read the situation and not overload them with exhausting speeches. Spurgeon speaks to this idea, “All our wits should be set to work to put gospel teaching into such a form that it will be the better received. Assuredly, short and pointed addresses are more likely to reach the heart than long and dreary sermons.” While I realize the majority of readers of the devotions are not giving sermons, I long that the believers who are reading this are sharing the gospel with others. Be willing to speak what needs spoken and also be willing to be silent when words are no longer needed. Sometimes what can push people away from the Gospel is not the Word of God but all the words from us. Use all your “wit” to learn the Gospel message and to be able to share it with others clearly. God loves them, the sin in their life has eternally separated them from God, but God sent Jesus to take care of their sin by dying on the cross. Anyone who believes that Jesus rose from the dead, declares Him as Lord, and turns from their sin to follow Him instead will be saved. Go out now and share the good news with those who need to hear the good news. If there is more that you want to say, but would take away from the good news, ask yourself if it truly needs to be heard by them at that moment? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2661
Chapter 37
Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen. Job 37:13 – Elihu is speaking of the different weather that the world experiences; rain, snow, clouds. He says God uses them for all these different purposes. Maybe it’s to correct His people by withholding the rain, or maybe it’s for the land itself to supply it with what is needs, or maybe it’s to demonstrate His love for us by bringing much needed shade or rain. What though needs to be focused on is that last phrase, HE causes it to happen. Not us, not the world, not the universe, He does. He brings the refreshment we need. He supplies the needs of the land. He is in control of all things. Maybe today as you think on the blessings of Christmas yesterday it’s easy to see God’s hand in things, but realize how much more His hand was in things that made today possible. He held the earth on it’s axis in just the right way so we could exist. The breath that entered your body had just the perfect amount of oxygen you needed to keep going. The atmosphere blocked out just the perfect amount of harmful rays so you could enjoy a cool, safe walk outside. He caused that to happen. If you think God isn’t working in your story today, think again. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1489
Then the beasts go into their lairs, and remain in their dens. From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. Job 37:8-12 – In this last chapter of Elihu’s speech, we see him seeking to establish a truth and command for Job to follow. Job needs to submit to God like all creation does. The beast listens to God and goes into their dens when He says to. The winds are under His authority. The cold and ice are from His breath, and the storms are His workings. All these things turn around by His hand to accomplish His command. If the lions and the waves and the storms submit to God, then Job should too. Job would have wholeheartedly agreed with this truth, yet what his friends didn’t see what that he was already doing this. How about us today? Are we submitting to the Lord today? Does God have the power over the waves and the winds, but not allowed to have authority in your life? Does He have a heart from you that will listen to what He says and that will obey what He says? When we declare Jesus as our Lord, we are finding ourselves in a position under His authority. How He commands the rest of creation is how He gets to command our story. Yet do we live in such a way that defies such authority? While God has the power in our life regardless, do we fight against it, seeking to declare ourselves the king of our story? If you are a follower of Jesus, know the king of your story is no longer you, but Him. Allow the One who truly is Lord of your life to have that role in your life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2662
Chapter 38
Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place…Job 38:12 – “Have you” can be found multiple times in this chapter where God answers back to Job. He asks Job have you entered into the depths of the sea, or have you seen where the light starts, or have the gates of death been revealed to you? Of course to Job the answer would be no, but for God, it would be answered yes. He has seen all this and He was there in the beginning of all things. This chapter is to show the majesty of God compared the the humble nature of man. Not that God seeks to make us feel like dirt, but to remind us that God’s much bigger than we are. Maybe today you too need a reminder that He is bigger than you. That the struggle on your shoulders that is crippling you is an easy load for someone like God if given to Him. Maybe though we too need some humbling. Either way today let’s dwell on the greatness of God. Not by putting ourselves down but by placing Him in our minds at the height He truly is at. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1490
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Job 38:4 – God now speaks into this whole situation. Yet, without directly answering Job’s or his friend’s answers, God quickly establishes His greatness over theirs. This chapter is filed with questions like verse 4. Questions that could only be answered with, “Only you Lord,” “No I haven’t,” or just plain silence. Take note that God isn’t here seeking to humiliate Job by all this, God though is seeking to show He is far different than Job or any of the miserable comforters that have surrounded him this whole time. God is far greater, far wiser, and far more powerful than any man. With such a vast separation between our might and God’s, and our understanding and God’s, God is calling us to trust Him. If we can’t even make the sun rise one day, then let’s trust the One who has each and every day since creation. While it can be difficult to let go of control, reading over a chapter like this one can help us see that God can handle things far better than we can. Trust whatever it is to the Lord and let Him work how only He can. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2663
Chapter 39
Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey…Job 39:5 – By calling it wild, wouldn’t that mean that no one has authority over it? No one had it in their stalls and no one opened the gates to let it go free. Yet God shows here His sovereignty over all things. Even the things to us that are wild and untamable are under His watch and lead. Last chapter He illustrated this when He spoke of the weather, now He shows it through the wild animals they see all around. What we could never have authority over, He does. This should translate over to us that all the things we have no control over, He does. If the weather and wild animals are under His watch, so are all the other things in our story that are out of our hands. If He’s the one to give an ostrich wisdom or not, then He is showing He has the ultimate authority in all things. So take joy no knowing the God who loves you also has power and authority over all the things you don’t. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1491
Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? Job 39:26-27 – In His continued remarks to Job, God begins to look at different creatures that Job would have been familiar with and asked Job some questions concerning them. God asked Job if he knew when all the mountain goats gave birth. God asked if Job was able to make the powerful, wild ox obey him. God asked if Job was the one that gave the horse its might. God asked if Job was the one who made it possible for the hawk to soar in the sky. Each time, if Job were to have given an answer, the answer would have been “No.” Job didn’t know these things and Job didn’t possess the power over such creatures…yet God did. God sees each goat and can overpower even the mightiest of beasts. God is the one who gave strength to the horse and flight to the hawk. If then we don’t have the knowledge, wisdom, power, or strength over any of these things, let’s place our trust in the one that does. While we can’t control the winds or the waves, nor make the sun rise, nor control the beasts of the earth, these are simple things to our God. Let us lean not on our own understanding, for our understanding falls far short of God’s. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and find yourself trusting in the only one that is truly over all. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2664
Chapter 40
Then Job answered the Lord and said: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.” Job 40:3-5 – Wasn’t it Job who spoke on wanting to bring His case before God and show God how he was being treated wrongly? Now God is there, speaking straight to Job, offering Job a chance to do just that very thing. How though does Job respond? He says he’ll be still and quiet, acknowledging he spoke up before in ways he shouldn’t have and won’t again. This is something to consider when we get frustrated with God. When in the presence of the Lord, even the most righteous of man couldn’t stand and refused to speak. So know it’s okay to be confused and even frustrated with God, but remember just who He is and who you’re speaking to. These last few chapters in Job was a reminder for Job just how majestic and powerful God is. Let’s take these chapters as a reminder for us as well. He is not some boss we can finally stand up to when we’ve had enough and come out of that meeting vindicated. He is always in the right and always the one who will come out of the meeting standing tall. So yes, come to Him, just realize who He is, who we are, and how He is the one who made us righteous to begin with. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1492
Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? Job 40:9 – The Lord has shown up on the scene within the story of Job and is speaking directly to Job. As we read over the words of God to Job, it can certainly have a serious, almost judgmental tense to it all. Yet remember where Job was at in his agony. He felt the presence of God had abandoned him, and if God would only show up, he would use his words to argue his case with God. Now, God has shown up, establishing His presence with Job was never removed. God though is seeking to remind Job that while His presence is being felt, and He is here with Job, God and Job are not on the same level. Asking questions like, “Do you have an arm as strong as me?” or, “Can you dress yourself with the majesty of Heaven”? Of course Job couldn’t, and God wasn’t seeking to humiliate Job either, but simply seeking to remind Job of who he was listening too. Do we need such a reminder today? Do we need a reminder of the grandeur and power of God? Maybe we too have gotten comfortable with feeling like we are equals with God and can handle our relationship with Him as buddies, or even worse His authority telling Him what to do. Yet if God showed up in a violent storm speaking to us with thunder like He did with Job here, I betcha we to would cover our mouths with our hands and be still. Let us remember today the greatness of our God. Let us tomorrow in worship at church remember the greatness of our God. Let that remembrance today, tomorrow, and beyond shape your walk with Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2665
Chapter 41
Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? Job 41:1 – Exactly what creature is being spoken about here is unknown, but the point God is getting as is. He is different than us and deserves to be acknowledged as such. Let’s put this passage in an easier to understand way. A blue whale is the biggest animal in the world. Up to 400,000 pounds, around the size of 30-35 elephants combined. Could you hook a blue whale with a fishing pole and pull it out of the water? Of course not, no human could, and that’s the point. God isn’t like us. Not only could He easily pull a blue whale out of the water, by His breath He can bring one into existence. God seeks to have an intimate relationship with each of us, but don’t take that as He is exactly like us. He is far greater, far more powerful, far superior than us. Maybe these last few chapters have been given to us to remind us just who we’ve stepped into a relationship with and to honor Him as such. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1493
Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. Job 41:11 – This chapter holds the last remarks of God towards Job. Again God here is establishing His greatness over the greatness of Job. Here we see God speaks of the Leviathan. While we aren’t certain exactly what is meant here, it is some large, powerful creature that man could never dream to control. It could even be referring to Satan himself, and how man could never control or overpower Satan on his own. Yet our God can. Everything under Heaven is His and everything is under His control. While this passage does a fantastic job of highlighting the might of our God, something though that isn’t included in this chapter, or any of the other chapters of God speaking to Job, is anything about why all this happened. Job is never clued into the whole God/devil conversation in the first chapters. At least from what we see is scripture, Job never learns why all this suffering came his way. While that may seem unfair and unjust to us, let us take a moment to reflect on what God had been saying to Job in all these chapters…who is man to question the works of such a mighty God? God is so grand, and man is so not. God sees all, we see so little. God’s hand can control the universe, we barely can control ourselves sometimes. Let us then be willing to be content when we can make no sense of what’s going on in our life. If God is moving, yet we can’t make sense of anything, let’s humble ourselves before Him by letting Him work without our opposition. Trust He loves you, and His glory is going to be found through this. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2666
Chapter 42
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:5-6 – Job thought he knew all about God, yet this experience he went through opens his eyes to see God for who He really is. Possibly this past year has been that for you. You thought you knew God well and even had a solid walk with Him, but this year shook a lot of those ideas up. You learned just how much of a Savior and Healer in Jesus you need. You learned that church needs to be able to happen outside of the walls of a certain building. You learned your walk with God has to be something you invest in day to day and can’t just rest on the shoulders of pastors and teachers on Sundays to make it work well. God revealed Himself to us this year, but as with Job, how has that changed you and your ways of thinking? Did another year go by and your pursuit of God not deepen? Maybe then the “resolution” you want to make for the new year concerning your walk with God is simply to look for Him more. Job’s change took place when he saw God better, our change can happen that way too. 🥳 Happy New Year! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1494
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Job 42:10 – After speaking with Job, and Job speaking in repentance back to the Lord, God turns his attention to Job’s three friends. God makes it clear that He was displeased with them and their words. They spoke of God incorrectly and this was something that needed to be made right. They were to take seven bulls and seven rams, go to Job, and offer a burnt offering to God with these sacrifices. After that, Job was to pray for them and God would accept Job’s prayer for his friends. Now in verse ten we see that God restored the fortunes of Job…but when? Was it after the whirlwind? Was it after Job himself repented? No, God restored the fortunes after Job prayed for his friends. Something clear in scripture is God’s desire for reconciliation and healing amongst His people. God’s design here was to bring Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar back in a right relationship with one another, and until the four were willing to do this, all four would have been in the wrong and Job would have still been in his loss. Let us prioritize the healing of broken relationships. Know God’s heart is not to be at odds with one another and to have a lack of forgiveness for one another. We are called to love one another. This doesn’t mean we have to be buddy-buddy with them, but we are called to seek peace out as far as it depends on us. And maybe the reason we aren’t in a state of peace within life is because we aren’t being faithful in this command to seek peace with those we are at odds with. Who then is someone you need to find reconciliation with and how could that process begin today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2667
Daily DEVO 