UNBLOCKING THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD

DAY 22 MORNING  Read 1 Peter 1:13-25

JOB:  JESUS  CHRIST IS THE REDEEMER WHO LIVES

The Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in the book of Job when says in Job 19:25 “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.”

Job tackles some thorny questions. “If God is good then why do the righteous suffer?” which  is the fundamental question that faces the reader of the book of Job.  The scene is set at the beginning of the book.  Job is a blameless man who fears God and is prosperous. Satan sees Job and says to God that the only reason   that Job fears God, is that God himself has blessed the work of his hands.  God allows Satan to take away his possessions but does not allowing him to touch his person (1:12)   Within a few verses Job loses oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels servants and children (1:13-19). A second time, Satan appears before God and God says that Job has maintained his integrity but Satan says that if Job’s body were touched, he would curse God to his face. At this point Job is inflicted with ‘loathsome sores’, but still Job did not ‘curse God and die’ which was his wife’s very unhelpful advice.  In a series of cycles of speeches, Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar offer their advice but do not bring any comfort. They say that the calamities he faces are the result of his sin. At the very end, God speaks out of the storm, as Job begins to question God’s righteousness. He does not vindicate Job as Job had hoped or reprove him as Job’s friends might have expected but He declares that wisdom lies with Him alone. [1]Job has effectively erred by questioning God’s righteousness and God addresses Job with question after question, asking “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”  Job in response, admits at the very end that he has spoken without really understanding. However the Lord restores his fortunes blessing him more than he had before, with more sons and daughters and many sheep, camels, oxen and donkeys. Job’s faith in God’s righteousness is challenged throughout this book and he responds after each speech from his three friends, but his  prophetic cry, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” Job 19:25, is a both a testimony and  revelation of Jesus Christ and an inspiration to us all when we go through times of suffering.

MISSIONARY MONKS: METHODIUS 815-885[2]

Methodius was Cyril’s older brother and along with his brother Cyril, he had a huge role in shaping and progressing Slavic literature and culture.  His early work among the Slavic people, when he was made governor of a Slavic province helped prepare him the work with his brother developing the Slavic alphabet so  that liturgy  and scripture could  be translated into the language of the Slavic peoples. As was the case with Anskar, their work came as a result of the request of political leaders, but they were subject as a result to political leaders falling in and out of favour. Both of them were intellectuals whose work was itinerant, staying in different locations every few years. For the sake of mission they had a high commitment to learning new languages. The ‘vernacular principle’ was or prime importance, namely that “Christianity is a missionary faith that is accomplished in part through the translation of scripture.”[3] Translation had to be conducted into the language of the heart, in order for mission to the Slavic peoples to succeed. The main focus for Cyril and Methodius was the developing of resources for the sake of mission, namely scripture, liturgy and literature. They worked in a team developing new leaders, training up a Moravian clergy and providing a foundation for the Moravian church, but also not neglecting to confront social problems when they encountered them.    

CLICK ON BOLD and you will be directed to Joshua Project website with more information for prayer.

PRAY for “the Arab, Moroccan in  Belgium, the seventeenth largest unreached people group in Europe whose  language is Arabic, Moroccan and whose primary religion is  Islam  There are 344,000 , 0.11% Christian and  0.7% evangelical.[4] Methodius had a high commitment to learn languages for the sake of mission. Lord raise up missionaries who are willing and able to learn Arabic and witness to Moroccan Arabs in Belgium we pray.  

DAY 22 EVENING Psalm 106-110, Re-read Psalm 110

PSALM 110: EXTEND YOUR MIGHTY SCEPTRE LORD JESUS, AND AWAKEN ANOTHER YOUTH MOVEMENT, FROM THE WOMB OF THE DAWN!

PSALM 110:1-3 “TheLordsaysto my Lord: “Sit at my right handuntil I make your enemiesa footstool for your feet. TheLordwill extend your mighty sceptrefrom Zion; you will rulein the midst of your enemies!Your troops will be willingon your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn, you will receive the dew of your youth.”

HEARING THE WORD  Try different ways of slow reading..   try reading aloud looking at different versions.. Early monks learned the text or portions of it by heart.. others carefully copied it down

RECEIVING THE WORD, read slowly enough so that you can pick up when and where a sentence or phrase speaks to you …then stop… and repeat it to yourself carefully and often enough to let its meaning sink in.

PRAYING WITH THE WORD Open up a conversation with God with the phrase or sentence you are reading  and let his word begin to build a relationship between you  and Him

WONDERING AT THE WORD Once we begin to hear the word of God and incline our hearts to it we are ultimately attending to Him rather than to it…. Be ready to enjoy…  rather than to understand.[5] 

Psalm 110[6] is the Old Testament passage that is most quoted in the New Testament. Psalm 110 is directly quoted six times in the New Testament. (Matthew 22:44,  Mark 12:36, Luke 20:42, Acts 2:34, Hebrews 1:13, Hebrews 10:13), with a total of 25 direct or indirect allusions to Psalm 110 in the New Testament. There are two main themes in Psalm 110: Jesus’ eternal kingdom and his priestly ministry. Firstly in verse 1 the Father invites Jesus to sit with him as a king. Secondly the Father gives Jesus spiritual responsibilities as a priest forever. David the writer of this psalm saw his descendant as a heavenly king who would conquer his enemies on earth (verse 1 and 2). He would be empowered by God and assisted by those who willingly love him (verse 3). Jesus as a high priest would enable his willing servants to maintain their effectiveness by relating to them in tenderness (verse 4). Those who refuse His priestly kindness will be considered His enemies in the End-Times. Jesus will execute all his enemies as he establishes his worldwide empire (verse 5 to 7). David heard the Father’s invitation, a promise to Jesus that began after the resurrection. He invited Jesus to sit at his right hand in the ultimate place of honour and authority in the universe. The Father promised to cause Jesus’ enemies to bow down in defeat before him. Jesus has reigned from this place throughout church history (Acts 2:33, Ephesians 1:20 Hebrews1:3, Hebrews 10:12-13.) In verses 1-3 Jesus begins his reign over the nations from heaven through his willing holy warriors who are still on the earth in the midst of Jesus enemies. The Father commissioned Jesus to rule in the midst of his enemies in this age. David sees Jesus’ reign from Zion as mediated through volunteers carrying out his orders in the midst of Jesus’ enemies. (Psalm 2 gives insight into the conversation as the Father exhorts Jesus to ask for the nations as His inheritance. Jesus’ intercession releases the rod of justice (judgement on rebellion.) To ‘extend the rod’ speaks of releasing God’s authority as Moses did when he extended his rod to release the plagues of Egypt (Ex 7-12) over the Red Sea (Ex 14:16) or in defeating Amalek (Ex 17:9,11) Jesus sits enthroned in heaven releasing his rod against his enemies through intercession and prophetic proclamations. Jesus uses his church to release his rod of justice throughout history. This will be seen in a very dramatic way in the end-time prayer movement releasing God’s power and justice as described in Revelation. Kris Vallotton of Bethel church, Redding, California believes a new dawn is coming, to the global church, in 2024. He looked up the biological meaning of dew and it says in dry climates at night time plants close up and the plants open  up when they receive the sunlight and  receive the dew (the moisture) which create photosynthesis which is turned to biological energy which gives them strength to grow. See link[7] This is a picture of a youth awakening from the womb of the dawn!

PRAYER Lord, raise up an army of young people! Awaken a youth movement from the womb of the dawn!

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[1] Fee, D.G and Stuart, D. How to read the Bible book by book, Zondervan, 2009,128.

[2] Smither, E.L.  Missionary monks, Cascade books, 2016, 119-137 (summary)

[3] Sanneh, Translating the message, 7,29, quoted in Smither, E.L.  Missionary monks, Cascade books, 2016, 134.

[4] Data provided by Joshua Project https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/13819/BE

[5] Foster, D. Reading with God: Lectio Divina. Continuum, 2005, 1.

[6] Bickle, M. summarized  pdf on website  Jesus: Our Victorious King and Sympathetic High Priest (Ps. 110) https://backup.storage.sardius.media/file/akamaiBackup-ihopkc-103762/IHOP/829/259/20070915_Jesus_King_and_High_Priest_Ps_110_Mike_Bickle.pdf

[7] Vallotton,  K. Womb of the Dawn. https://youtu.be/EVUDybNBXrA