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Reading through the Bible in 2020: Notes from the Bible Recap Day 17

Read through the Bible 2020 Bible Recap Day 17 Gen 16-18 Personal notes from reading Gen 16-18: Well, there are some parts of scripture that are just hard for me to read and this passage is certainly one that falls into that category.  It’s just bad all the way around. Our choices can really make a mess of things when we act outside of God’s will for our lives. Sarai decided to take their infertility matters into her own hands and tells Abram to take her servant as another wife and have a child with her.  And in her own thoughts, that child would become their child and it would fill that void. Um-- not a good idea. In fact, it was just really an unbelievably horrible situation that she put everyone in. I do wish that Abram would have stood up to Sarai here. He could have done what was right.  I’m not sure that Hagar really had much of a choice being a servant, but I do wish that she would have reached out to God to guide her in that situation and of course...
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Reading through the Bible in 2020: Notes from the Bible Recap Day 16

Reading through the Bible in 2020 Bible Recap Day 16 Gen 12-15 Personal notes from reading Gen 12-15: This part of scripture starts off with God giving Abraham (his name is Abram at this point) instructions to leave his home and move to another country, Canaan.  God promises to bless him and make a nation from him. But not only did God tell Abraham that he would be blessed, He lets Abraham know that all families of the earth will be blessed through Abraham.  And Abraham shows great faith when he packs up and leaves immediately. However, pretty quickly, he shows that he’s far from perfect and it doesn’t take much for him to lose confidence. Instead of trusting that God would protect him when he strolls into the new town with a beautiful wife, he pretended that he wasn’t married and let the pharaoh take Sarai.  Even when consequences are scary, its best to trust God. Abraham really thought that if he entered Egypt with a beautiful wife, that they’d kill him to ...
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Reading through the Bible in 2020: Notes from the Bible Recap Day 14 and 15

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Reading through the Bible in 2020 Bible Recap Day 14 and 15 Job 38-42 Personal notes from reading Job 38-42: Ok, I’m not going to lie, I totally wish I could have been there to see the looks on their faces when God shows up in a whirlwind!  And then, the first thing God says is “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?”. OH! MY! GOSH!!! Um, didn’t Elihu describe himself as perfect in knowledge like moments before God speaks to them.  And didn’t the friends suggest that they were coming to Job with counsel as if it was an inspired word from God?   For more than 2 chapters God describes the complexity of the universe.  He paints a picture, detail after detail of His most marvelous creation and how the pieces work together to form systems.  Then he starts asking Job question after question about these multiplex details. I can’t imagine the feeling in Job’s stomach when God point blank asked him where he was when He laid th...
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Reading through the Bible 2020: Notes for the Bible Recap Days 12 and 13

Read through the Bible 2020 Bible Recap Days 12 and 13 Job 32-37 Personal notes from reading Job 32-37: Here we’re introduced to someone new.  Elihu has an opinion on the matter, so he joins the debate.  Elihu is young, so he was initially intimidated to join the conversation by the older men giving counsel. But eventually he realized that wisdom is from God, and after enough anger built up, it moved him to join in.  Although we generally connect wisdom with age, I have to agree with Elihu here. Elihu’s beef with Job has to do with his complaints about God.  He goes on for quite a while about the power and righteousness of God. He’s passionate about how inferior man is to God. He continues on about God’s abundant mercies and is quite frustrated that Job seems more concerned with self-righteousness than he does with trusting God’s plan.  Although he seems a bit arrogant in his approach (when he claims to be “perfect in knowledge” I gagged), he makes ...
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Reading through the Bible in 2020: Notes from the Bible Recap Day 11

Read through the Bible 2020 Bible Recap Day 11 Job 29-31 Personal notes from reading Job 29-31: Job speaks so beautifully in this passage of Scripture.  His words are poetic and I really feel his heart as he speaks.  Looking at his current situation is so starkly different than his past situation and he just can’t help but look back on how things used to be and wonder, “Why?”.  He thinks back on his life and reflects on the things he did right. He defended the defenseless. He cared for the poor. He loved the unloved. He lived selflessly and with a desire for genuine goodness.  And he just can’t wrap his mind around how his current situation could be a reflection of justice. It doesn’t seem right and for the life of him, he can’t understand. It’s easy to do what Job did. We like to know why things happen.  But sometimes the answer is beyond our own comprehension. When seasons of sadness or sickness or tragedy enter our lives, it’s difficult not to...
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Reading through the Bible in 2020: Notes from the Bible Recap Day 10

Reading through the Bible in 2020 Bible Recap Day 10 Job 24-28 Personal notes from reading Job 24-28 In this passage of scripture, Job makes his final defense.  He holds fast to righteousness and won’t let go. He certainly doesn’t understand how the wicked could prosper and feels like God ignores much of the wickedness of man.  Bildad’s reply to Job’s discourse is short and to the point. God is mighty (which is absolutely correct) and that man is sinful (which is also absolutely correct). But he is also implying that Job is the one in this group who is the sinner being punished by God. And that is where he is wrong.  Although Job is a sinner, this trial is not the punishment for his sins. This trial was allowed by God for a certain purpose according to His plan. Job’s friends have no insight into God's whole plan, yet they speak to Job as if they do. I just want to say, “Hold up, Buster! Don’t you go preaching as if you know the mind of God or understand Go...
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Reading through the Bible in 2020: Notes from the Bible Recap Day 9

Reading through the Bible in 2020 Bible Recap Day 9 Job 21-23 Personal notes from reading Job 21-23 Again, Job sets his friends straight.  His endurance amazes me. With a weary soul, he’s gone back and forth, back and forth, defending what he knows is right. This is so inspiring to me! I feel like I’m on trial constantly with some who are close to me.  There’s judgement and I’m very aware of it. It can be exhausting. I love being able to read through Job’s account in its entirety and know that God is sovereign over my life. The judgement of others doesn’t change who I am in Him.  Job once again addresses their assumptions and wrongful assertions. And basically starts by saying, “Look here! I’m going to set you straight and when I’m done, you can just continue on with your jeering and teasing”. It might have been Job’s tone here that set Eliphaz off one last time.  Whew, was he mad! Job’s words were an exclamation point on Eliphaz’s pride and anger. H...
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