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Reflection on Job 2:1-10

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Scripture
The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on all the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him for no reason.”

Observation
After satan has been given permission to test Job by destroying all of Job’s property and killing his sons, Job still refuses to sin by cursing the Lord.

The Lord boasts about Job’s integrity to satan (which means the accuser). Satan retorts that people will give away everything to save their lives, but if Job’s body is afflicted he will soon curse the Lord.

So the Lord gives satan permission to afflict Job’s body. Satan inflicts painful sores all over Job. Even Job’s wife tells him to “Curse God and die.” But Job refuses to curse the Lord.

Application
The book of Job challenges all of our pragmatic and religious theories about suffering.

There was no physical reason for Job’s painful sores, nor for the loss of his property and sons. It all seems so random- a run of personal disasters.

A religious explanation of his suffering is that Job is being punished for some hidden sin. Yet the text says that Job was without sin.

In many ways, Job is a picture of Jesus who fulfilled all righteousness without any sin, yet suffered physically and spiritually for the sins of the world.

Bad things happen in our lives. When they do, we need to cling more tightly to the hope we have in Christ,

Prayer
Lord you have not promised to protect us from all evil, but you have promised to walk with us even in the toughest time. Please help me to trust you when my life makes no sense. Amen.

Reflection on Mark 9:38-50

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Scripture
“Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.”

Observation
John tells Jesus that they saw someone who was not of their group casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus tells them that anyone doing a deed of power in His name will not be able to then speak evil about Him.

Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that they must not cause a “little one” to stumble in their faith. It is better to cut off parts of our body that cause us to sin than to be whole and cast into hell.

Everyone will be salted with fire. Jesus’ followers must allow the salt of the Holy Spirit to be always present.

Application
Jesus is very liberal in His grace- far more so than we are. He doesn’t require us to be on His team to minister His power. Sometimes we hear of evangelists who aren’t themselves born again yet they effectively preach the gospel. People who aren’t believers find themselves praying for healing for others, and God responds.

God delights for His grace to be manifest in the world so that as many as possible can be saved.

This does not mean that judgement will not come. Everyone will be salted with fire, and it is better to enter life maimed than to be whole in hell.

The eternal question is not “What did you do for Christ?” but “Is Christ in your heart?”

Prayer
Lord you are good in all of your ways. Thank you for setting me free from sin in the death of Jesus. Amen.

Reflection on James 5:13-20

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Scripture
Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

Observation
When we are suffering we should pray; when we are happy, praise; if we are sick call for the elders and seek prayer. Such prayer, offered in faith, will gain healing and forgiveness.

We should confess our sins to one another and pray for one another to be healed. An ordinary person who is righteous before the Lord can achieve much through prayer. Elijah is our example of this.

If someone wanders from the Lord, we must seek to bring them back.

Application
James does not say that sin leads to sickness or that sickness is caused by sin. However he does link the two. If we sin, we are out of fellowship with God and therefore cannot so easily receive His healing.

The early christian church practised a high level of community. People prayed and rejoiced together. They prayed for the sick and confessed their sins to one another. All of this was done voluntarily and in an atmosphere of love and acceptance of one another.

In out highly privatised culture, we are not used to this kind of transparency. It can start with us reaching out And being honest with our brothers and sisters in our cell groups and in larger church gatherings.

Prayer
Holy Spirit, please help me to grow my faith to believe your word, to pray for healing and to be honest in my church. Amen.

Reflection on Esther 7:1-10

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Scripture
So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.

Observation
Haman had been plotting against the Jews because of his hatred of one of them, a man named Mordecai.

After much dancing around court proprieties, Queen Esther, herself a Jew, manages to get Haman and the King together for a banquet.

There she reveals Haman’s plot against the Jews. The king, filled with rage, orders Haman hanged, ironically from the gallows that Haman had had built to kill Mordecai.

Application
The book of Esther is about God’s care for His people. He raises one of them, Esther, to a place of unrivalled influence so that she is in a position to protect His people.

God is still caring for His people, from the least to the most powerful. When danger threatens. We can still trust Him to lead us through.

Prayer
Lord God Almighty, you are my rescuer and deliverer. I will put my trust in you alone. Amen.

Reflection on Mark 9:30-37

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Scripture
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Observation
Jesus and His disciples walk through Galilee. Jesus teaches them along the way. He tells them He will be betrayed and killed but will rise in three days. They do not understand this.

In Capernaum Jesus asks the disciples what they were arguing about on the road. They don’t want to tell Him because the argument was about who was the greatest. Jesus tells them that to be first they must be servants of all. He tells them whoever welcomes a little child welcomes both Him and the Father.

Application
Everyone wants to be the greatest, most important, best… The church is not exempt from this. It is called pride or the need for significance.

Our real significance comes not from our own importance but from the fact that Jesus counts us worth dying for. When we really understand in our hearts that our Father loves us so much, then all unhealthy forms of pride just melt away.

We have to see this in the way we treat other people. If you want to meet Jesus and the Father then show hospitality to the least important people- children, people with disabilities, refugees, the uneducated. They are the people who in some way carry the presence of Jesus. When we serve them we serve Jesus.

Prayer
Lord Jesus you came to serve, not to be served. Please help me to have the same ambition. Amen

Reflection on James 3:13-4:8

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Scripture
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you.

Observation
If you claim to be spiritually wise, you must show it in your deeds and in humility. God’s wisdom is not marked by bitterness or envy, but by purity, peace and mercy.

Fights and quarrels in the church are caused by fleshly desires. People covet things they cannot have because these desires are not submitted to God.

We must submit ourselves to God, resist the devil and then draw near to God, humbling ourselves before Him.

Application
Every part of the christian’s life, every desire and ambition must be submitted to God. This means dying to what we want in order to live to Christ.

Many of the problems in church communities arise because people want what they want. They put their own desires first. It might be that someone wants a leadership position held by someone else. It might be a preference for a style of worship.

If we all demand our own way, the love of God is not manifesting itself among us. If we all submit ourselves to God and to one another, the devil will not get a look in.

Prayer
Father, help me to surrender entirely to you and to your plans for me. Amen.

Reflection on Mark 7:24-37

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Scripture
They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful! He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak!”

Observation
A Gentile woman comes to Jesus and begs Him to cast a demon out of her daughter. Jesus tells her that He has been called to Israel and it would be like taking food from children to feed the dogs. But she counters this by saying that even dogs can eat the scraps from the children’s plate.

Jesus is pleased with her faith and He tells her the demon has left the girl.

Jesus then goes to another place where a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment comes to Him. He heals the man immediately to the amazement of the crowds.

Application
There are times when Jesus wants to provoke people to a deeper faith. We want to see Jesus as a kind of vending machine to give us what we need, but He wants to take our relationship with Him deeper.

Sensing a profound faith and a strong spirit in the woman, He presses in with an apparent rebuff to her that merely reveals a deeper faith than was on the surface.

The Lord deals with us each in individual ways according to our needs. He Is no “one size fits all” God.

Prayer
Thank you Lord for your unfailing love. Help me to always trust you. Amen.

Reflection on James 2:1-17

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Scripture
Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

Observation
To give attention to the rich at the expense of the poor is a sin. It shows our judgement is guided by evil motives.

To break one of God’s laws makes us as guilty as the person who breaks all of the laws. When we interact with others we must show mercy in order to receive mercy from God.

Faith is not real unless it shows itself in good works. Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness at the point where he prepared to sacrifice his son. His faith was shown in costly obedience to God.

Application
Faith is more than a belief about God. James reminds us that even the demons know about God, but they are not saved.

True faith comes out in the actions of a life transformed by Christ. That is not to say that christians never sin. No, we are on a journey from sin to holiness.

True faith is about trusting in Jesus for all things. It results in a different way of thinking and of living. No more are we motivated by the kind of selfishness that causes us to ignore the poor or that condemns people who are not in our group.

True faith leads us to express love to other people regardless of their social standing, to put others’ needs ahead of our own.

Prayer
Let my faith be shown in a life transformed by your love, Jesus. Amen.