A Time for Joy, A Time for Mourning: July 2005

July 19, 2005

Outreach

I am now off to the 2005 I-5 Team Outreach!! I'll be back July 30th!! Be prepared for stories!!

July 18, 2005

Battle of Words

Job 17:10-12

¹⁰ "But come on, all of you, try again!
I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹ My days have passed, my plans are shattered,
and so are the desires of my heart.

¹² These men turn night into day;
in the face of darkness they say, 'Light is near.'

Job lashes out at his friends who are accusing him and cheering him when it is not wanted. Falsely cheerful advice can actually make a suffering person more discouraged. Job's sentiments are echoed in a verse from Proverbs: "Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart" (25:20).

Bildad speaks back:

Job 18:2-4

² "When will you end these speeches?
Be sensible, and then we can talk.

³ Why are we regarded as cattle
and considered stupid in your sight?

⁴ You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, is the earth to be abandoned for your sake? Or must the rocks be moved from their place?

Okay so Job speaks and defends himself and his friend, Bildad, gets a little upset. He tells Job to just be sensible so they can talk.

Job 19:2-6

² "How long will you torment me and crush me with words?

³ Ten times now you have reproached me;
shamelessly you attack me.

⁴ If it is true that I have gone astray,
my error remains my concern alone.

⁵ If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and use my humiliation against me,

⁶ then know that God has wronged me
and drawn his net around me.

Job comes back and asks why they torment him with their words. But... ²⁵ I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;

²⁷ I myself will see him
with my own eyes - I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

He still has hope!!! That is SOO amazing! With all this junk that is going on around him, Job still has hope! In the midst of his deepest agony, Job expressed astonishing words of hope. This prophecy expands on two other flashes of hope (9:33, 16:19-21). Job did not try to hide his despair and anguish, but, as this verse shows, the trials never crushed all his hope.

Job 20:1-3

¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

² "My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
because I am greatly disturbed.

³ I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
and my understanding inspires me to reply.

Zophar must reply here!! He quickly shoots Job down with a list of things that will happen to the wicked, implying what will happen to Job because all this stuff is happening due to some unspoken sin.
Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night. (vs 8)
He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up. (vs 15)
"Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure. Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure. In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him. When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows upon him. Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him. He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him; total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him. A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God's wrath. Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God." (vv 22-29)

After Job lashes out at his friends (17:10-12), Bildad retorted in kind, followed by Zophar in chapter 20. These two speeches , among the nastiest in the book, show the danger of bitter argument about anything in theology. Friends who were overwhelmed with compassion when they first found Job are now seen cruelly heaping more grief upon him - just to defend their (faulty) theological point. (Study note from the Student Bible, Zondervan Publishing)

July 12, 2005

I know these wheels spin somehow!

Found em!

Where did the toys go?

Aww! Da boy cousins

Papa and Nay Nay

Hmmm... Think, think, think

The better half of Nay Nay

July 11, 2005

I Know...

I know... I know! I promised pics of the cutest little boy in the world. Sorry it hasnt happened yet. This comp (Todd) is being a dork and won't let me see the pics I just took. They will come tho.

Eventually. :P

Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. James 1:27 New Living Traslation

: Name: Kari; Location: Sumner, Washington, United States

Umm... I am a girl who is a work in progress! :) I love my family, friends and Jesus. Dark chocolate, green mint ice cream and caramel macciatos make me happy. I have a passion for helping children realize that they can dream big dreams and see them come true, no matter what walk of life they come from.

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A Time for Joy, A Time for Mourning