Daily Bible Readings - October 3, 2012

BL 1^ST READING

ESSING

LIST

Job struggles with his insignificance in the face of the “bigness” of God. What gives him the right to question the wisdom of God that he sees manifest in the experiences of his life? We all struggle with this question in one or other of its forms, and the simple answer is that there is no simple answer! Why does God choose to relate to us? Why did He create us? To answer these questions, we have to enter into the mysterious world of faith, and trust that God is not capricious — that is, He will remain faithful to His loving and trustworthy character.

 

Job 9:1-12, 14-16

1 Job answered his friends and said: 2 I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God? 3 Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. 4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? 5 He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. 7 He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. 8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. 9 He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; 10 he does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. 11 Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; 12 should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, “What are you doing?” 14 How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! 15 Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. 16 If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.

 

P S A L M

 

Psalm 88:10-11, 12-13, 14-15

R: Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

9 [10] Daily I call upon you, O Lord; to you I stretch out my hands. 10 [11] Will you work wonders for the dead? Will the shades arise to give you thanks? (R) 11 [12] Do they declare your mercy in the grave, your faithfulness among those who have perished? 12 [13] Are your wonders made known in the darkness, or your justice in the land of oblivion? (R) 13 [14] But I, O Lord, cry out to you; with my morning prayer I wait upon you. 14 [15] Why, O Lord, do you reject me; why hide from me your face? (R)

 

 

GOSPEL

 

Being a disciple of Jesus is not going to be easy. There is never an easy way to salvation despite what some of our hymns and preachers might tell us. One of the lessons we will learn if we read the lives of the saints closely is that it requires a great deal of faith and willingness to persevere in the call of holiness. This will necessarily take us through many trials and struggles. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, all things are possible and we can grow in faith as we follow Jesus more closely.

 

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

I consider all things so much rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

 

Luke 9:57-62

57 As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” 59 And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” 60 But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” 61 And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” 62 Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Ecclesiastes 5-8

think: Salvation requires a great deal of faith and willingness to persevere in the call of holiness.

 

 

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ___________________________

 

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God’s special verse/thought for me today_________

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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Ecclesiastes 5-8