Sun.’s Devo - A Clear Conscience

Read: Job 23:1-27:23; 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11; Psalm 41:1-13; Proverbs 22:5-6 I wonder if they ever did plays of Job like Shakespeare’s. There are so many quotable verses in Job like Bildad’s today: “How you have enlightened my stupidity!” *** Job begins with lamenting that he can’t find God’s court. He has looked east and west, north and south to no avail. Since he can’t find it, he wonders why God doesn’t bring the wicked to judgment. Why does he have to wait in vain as God’s godly. He describes all the horrible things the wicked does and how merciless they are to others. One day they will meet their doom. *** Bildad explains that God enforces peace in the heavens with his heavenly army. How can a mortal man be innocent before God like Job claims to be. He says that we are nothing before God. God sees in heaven, on the earth, in the underworld and in hell. HIs power is unlimited. He rules everything. *** Job vows that God has taken away his rights but he will never sin with his mouth and will maintain his innocence without wavering. His conscience is clear. The wicked receive an inheritance as well as the righteous. The inheritance of the wicked is death and destruction. The inheritance of the godly is the wealth of the ungodly. *** We are about to see this transfer of wealth in our day. Everything that Satan has stolen from us we will recover seven-fold. Not in the hereafter but here on earth. We are living in that day! *** Paul claims a clear conscience for him and his coworkers. He says they have lived with God’s holiness and sincerity in all their dealings. They depended on God’s grace and wisdom and not there own. They have not been deceptive in any way. *** Paul spends a lot of time explaining why his plans to visit them changed. He is trying to follow the Lord’s guidance and do what he wants him to do. He also wants to do what is best for the church. His first letter caused a stir. Some repented of their sins and others had not yet. He wanted to give them more time to weigh their lives before he came to visit again. *** In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul talked about a man who encouraged them in sexual sins and Paul gave him over to the devil to destroy his flesh. He was to be excommunicated out of the church. If they have forgiven him, then Paul does also. *** David is having the same day Job and Paul are in today’s Psalm. His enemies torment him with lies.They want only the worse to happen to him. He has lost his closest friends and his only hope is the Lord. He claims his innocence. *** Lord, we proclaim our innocence because your blood has taken away our sins. We choose to walk with you in the land of the living. May we not lose hope or despair but put our hope in You.