Daily Devotion for January 6, 2010
Prayers
Scripture

Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
Prayer for the Morning
Oh God the King eternal, who divides the day from the darkness, and has turned the shadow of death into the light of morning; I pray that this day you will incline my heart to keep your commandments, driving temptation from my mind. Guide my feet into the way of peace; that having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, I may, when the night comes, rejoice in giving you thanks for a day lived in your presence; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer from Psalm 86
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.In the day of my trouble I will call upon you: for you will answer me.
Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; and no works like those you have done.
All nations whom you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; and will glorify your name.
For you are great, and do wondrous things: you are God alone.
Teach me your way, Lord, and I will walk in your truth: unite my heart to fear your name.
I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify your name forever.
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.
John 19: 25-26
I am the resurrection and the life
When she heard that Jesus was coming, Martha went and met him: but Mary still sat in the house. And Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother [Lazarus] would not have died. And yet I still know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you."
Jesus said, "Your brother will rise again," and Martha replied, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
Jesus then said to her:
"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he die, yet will he live; and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die."
Job 19:23-27
But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth:And after my skin, even this body , is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God;
Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.
Notes on the Scripture
Job is probably the oldest written book in the Bible. He suffers every kind of torment and expects to die, sick and alone, having lost his wealth, his family, and his position. And yet he echoes something that will not come to fruition for many centuries: after his body is destroyed, "without my flesh I will see God . . . and not as a stranger."
In days gone by, preachers like Charles Wesley and Haddon Spurgeon all made the point that "Redeemer" is the translation of the Hebrew "goel"; this was not a general term, but a specific person in Hebraic law. When a person died, a close kinsman would become his goel and would have the rights to reclaim his land, receive any restitution, raise his children and, if the man had been murdered, even take up his sword in blood justice.
Job's final misery is the belief that he will die without his Goel, for he is despised by all. When he says he knows that his Redeemer lives, he anticipates Christ, who will stand up for him even though he has been abandoned by all humanity. Christ will even carry a sword, the sword of righteousness, with which he will pursue and destroy Death on behalf of the most wretched person who dies believing in Him.