OUR DAILY BREAD : FROM BLEAK TO BEAUTIFUL

[cimi]

April 18
Thursday


FROM BLEAK
TO BEAUTIFUL

READ:
Job 42:10-17
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The LORD blessed the
latter days of Job more
than his beginning.
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Spring is the time of year when God reminds us that things are not always as they seem. Over the course of a few short weeks, what appears hopelessly dead comes to life. Bleak woodlands are transformed into colorful landscapes. Trees whose naked arms reached to heaven all winter, as if pleading to be clothed, suddenly are adorned with lacy green gowns. flowers that faded and fell to the ground in surrender to the cold rise slowly from the earth in defiance of death.

In Scripture, we read about some apparently hopeless situations. One example is that of a wealthy man named Job whom God described as having integrity (Job 2:3). Disaster struck and Job lost everything important to him. In misery, he said, "My days are...spent without hope (7:6). What appeared to Job and his friends as evidence that God had turned against him was just the opposite. God was so confident of Job's integrity that He trusted him in this battle With Satan. Later, Job's hope and life were renewed.

The faithful arrival of spring every year comforts me when I'm in a situation that seems hopeless. With God, there is no such thing. No matter how bleak the landscape of life may look, God can transform it into a glorious garden of color and fragrance. ))Julie Ackerman Link

`````````````````Dear God, we pray for faith anew,````````````
``````````````````For greater trust in all we do,``````````````
````````````````For hope that never knows defeat,````````````
`````````````For victory at Thy mercy seat. __Brandt``````````
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With God, there is hope even
in the most hopeless situation

*********************Today'd Bible Reading __ Job 42:10-17*******************

10 And the LORD restored
Job's losses when he prayed
for his friends. Indeed the
LORD gave Job twice as
much as he had before.

11 Then all his brothers, all
his sisters, and all those
who had been his
acquaintances before, came
to him and ate food with
him in his house; and they
consoled him and
comforted him for all the
adversity that the LORD had
brought upon him. Each
one gave him a piece of
silver and each a ring of
gold.

12 Now the LORD blessed
the latter days of Job more
than his beginning; for he
had fourteen thousand
sheep, six thousand camels,
one thousand yoke of oxen,
and one thousand female
donkeys. 13 He also had
seven sons and three
daughters. 14 and he called
the name of the first
Jemimah, the name of the
second Keziah, and the
name of the third Keren-
Happuch. 15 In all the land
were found no women so
beautiful as the daughters
of Job; and their father gave
them an inheritance among
their brothers.

16 After this Job lived one
hundred and forty years,
and saw his children and
grandchildren for four
generations. 17 So Job died,
old and full of days.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Today's reading shows how God graciously provided for Job after his
many tragic losses. "And the LORD restored Job's losses....Indeed
the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before" (v.10). We might
wonder: How could we ever replace a child who had died? Or How
do we overcome our insecurity that additional blessings could also
be removed? The answer is in relying on the sovereign God who
both gives and takes away (Job 1:21).