MEDITATION ABOUT GOD

“Listen to this, O Job; stand still and consider the wondrous works of God" (Job 37:14 NKJV).

Elihu’s message to Job is a message that applies to all of us. It speaks about meditating on God. Thus, we want to consider the particulars, priority, and patience regarding this meditation.

Particulars – “Consider the wondrous works of God.” The particular thing on which we are to mediate on about God here is His “wondrous works.” We seldom think about God’s wonderful works as we spend much of our time seeking pleasure and other worldly pursuits. If we meditated more on the wonderful works of God, we would think more highly of God. A shallow or small view of God comes from failure to meditate on His wonderful works. Creation, salvation, His keeping care and daily provisions are some of the wonderful works of God that we need to meditate on more.

Priority – “Listen to this.” Mediation on God’s wonderful works ought to be given high priority in our lives. In fact, meditating on God’s wonderful works is more important than many other things that we give our attention to. And the exhortation is that we need to do this meditation more often. We think on a lot of things; but how little we think on the wonderful things of God.

Patience – “Stand still.” The idea here is to stop what we are doing and meditate on the wonderful works of God. This requires patience. If we are going to learn anything, we need to stop running around and stand still and let the learning process take over. Folks today are so much on the go, they do not have time to just stop and think. No wonder people are so nervous, confused, frustrated, and depressed. Our need is to stop and mediate on God and His wonderful works.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“When you spend time with God, you invest in eternity!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Discipline

In 1 Cor. 9:27 we read, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (NKJV).

Discipline is the Greek word hupōpiazō (ὑπωπιάζω = hoop-o-pee-ad'-zo). It is made up of two words: “hupo” which means under, and “ops” which means eye. Thus it means to treat roughly, to blacken the eye. The idea then is to strike hard and heavy on one’s face, rendering it black and blue. To strike in this manner was generally considered to be a ‘knockout’ punch by the ancient Greek boxers.

In Classical Greek hupōpiazō was used figuratively to describe cities terribly scourged and afflicted by war, bearing the marks of devastation. There is no reference to hupōpiazō in the Septuagint. In the New Testament, hupōpiazō was used by the apostle Paul to describe the manner in which he disciplined his body for service. Just as an athlete must train and master his body to compete, so the Christian must hupōpiazō or discipline his body in order to bring it into subjection.

Further, hupōpiazō is present tense and speaks of continual practice which implies a continual need. We cannot let our guard down in our fight against our flesh. Yet this rigid self-denial is not accomplish in our own strength. In cooperation with Holy Spirit, we need to make a conscious decision to deny the strong desires that continually come from our fallen nature.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah or “horn” would be raised up in the house of David (Psalm 132:17; cf 89:24)

New Testament Fulfillment – Luke 1:68-69

Bible Facts

The cause of suffering revealed (Gen. 3; Isa. 24:5-6). The earth is subject to misery, which appears at odds with our wonderfully designed universe. However, the Bible, not evolution, explains the origin of suffering. When mankind rebelled against God, the curse resulted - introducing affliction, pain and death into the world.

Bible Quiz

Who prayed and sang praises in the middle of the night while in prison at Philippi?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: How old was Noah when the flood waters came on the earth? 600 years old (Gen. 7:6).

That’s in the Bible

"Reed shaken by the wind”

“As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind” (Matt. 11:7 NKJV).

“Reed shaken by the wind” - The expression “reed shaken by the wind” carries the idea of having an opinion shaped by the times. John was not a vacillator, a reed swaying with the winds of change. He was no ‘yes man’ to an earthly king but an emissary of God and a herald of the word of the Lord. He had spoken powerfully against the immorality of Herod Antipas himself, though he knew it could cause him suffering (Mark 6:18). Too many believers are worried about the applause or frowns, statements of approval or disapproval, of appreciation or disagreements. We must learn that no matter what, we are to stand firm for the Lord.

Did You Know - Christian History

Melville Beveridge Cox was born November 9, 1799 in Hallowell, Maine. He was the first American Methodist Missionary to Africa.

His early education was obtained in the common schools. At the age of about nineteen he became a Methodist, and preached in various towns and villages in Maine. After contracting tuberculosis in 1825, he was unable to preach and moved to Baltimore, where he worked in a bookstore and edited a weekly newspaper. He married Ellen Cromwell, but within two years both she and their young daughter died in a cholera epidemic.

In 1831 he resigned his final pastorate in Raleigh, North Carolina, again because of illness. The next year he volunteered as a missionary to South America. He was appointed Liberia, instead. Chided for even considering the assignment, he replied, “Let a thousand fall before Africa be given up.” Arriving in Liberia in March 1833, he quickly organized the first Methodist Episcopal church among the immigrants (freed slaves from the United States), some of whom were already Christians. He established a mission at Grand Bassa and another along the Niger with a school of agriculture and art and a vigorous Sunday school.

A month later, ill with malaria, he refused to return to America. He was dead within 4 months of his arrival in Africa. When news of Cox’s death reached the United States, many others volunteered their services to carry on his brief but effective ministry. During the brief period of his sojourn in Liberia he wrote “Sketches of Western Africa” which supplemented a memoir of his life written by his brother, G. F. Cox, D. D.

A Little Humor

A stalwart young missionary was being chased through the African bush for a week by a ferocious lion. Finally the missionary found himself cornered and, in despair, fell to his knees and prayed for deliverance. To his amazement, the lion also began to pray. “It’s truly a miracle,” said the missionary, “you, a killer lion, joining me in prayer just when I thought my life was going to end!” “Be quiet,” said the lion, “I am saying grace.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Salvation is so simple that people overlook it; so free they do not believe it!”