The Daily Word: Tuesday, August 31^st, 2021
Job 37:1-39:30
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10
Psalm 44:9-26
Proverbs 22:13
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” – Job 38:1-3

Job wasn’t ready for this moment. Job had been wondering out loud why God had allowed him to go through the depth of suffering that he had been through in his life. He didn’t expect God to actually answer! But then God showed up. He answered Job out of the “whirlwind” of pain, suffering, and preconceived notions about God that Job’s life had become. And God showed up aggressively.

“Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me” (v 3).

Like it or not, this moment is coming for you, too. At the end of your life, you will meet God face to face. You will give Him an account of every action you have carried out, and everything you have left undone; every word spoken, and every word left unsaid. God will question you, and you shall answer Him! What did you do with the instructions He gave you? How did you steward His possessions? How did you love and care for His sons and daughters? There will be no escaping God when you meet Him face to face. He will question you, and you will answer Him.

Are you ready?

Apart from Jesus, you will not be able to answer God a single thing. You will be crushed under the weight of God’s words, just like Job was. But in Jesus, God will meet you: gently, and with love. You will be “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). God will not see your sin; He will see His Son! He will question you, and the blood of Jesus will answer Him.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for the blood of Jesus! Thank You that, because of the Cross, I never have to worry about facing You alone like Job had to. I will face you “hidden with Christ,” and He will reply to Your every word. I do not have to fear Your judgment and Your wrath any more, because Jesus has set me free!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Monday, August 30^th, 2021
Job 34:1-36:33
2 Corinthians 4:1-12
Psalm 44:1-8
Proverbs 22:10-12
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. – 2 Cor. 4:2

The word of God is a treasure. His word should be valued and prized above all else. Properly used and honored, God’s word brings new life. But Scripture cautions against “handling the word of God deceitfully.”

When we try to make the Bible say what we want it to say, we are handling the word of God deceitfully. God’s word is a mirror. You should hold it up to your life and see if the two match. Does your life look like God’s word? If not, don’t change your interpretation of His word to match your desired lifestyle! Change your life to march His word.

We are the ones who must change. His word will always stay the same.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. – 2 Cor. 3:18

Prayer:

Father, I invite You to change me. Help me to honestly evaluate whether my life looks like Your word! If it doesn’t, it’s time to change my life to match Your word. Convict me, and strengthen me to change, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Sunday, August 29^th, 2021
Job 31:1-33:33
2 Corinthians 3:1-18
Psalm 43:1-5
Proverbs 22:8-9
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
“If there is a messenger for him, a mediator, one among a thousand, to show man His uprightness, then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’; his flesh shall be young like a child’s, he shall return to the days of his youth. He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, he shall see His face with joy, for He restores to man His righteousness.” – Job 33:23-26

God wants to be gracious to His children (v 24). He wants to “deliver [every man] from going down to the Pit”![1] Jesus came and served as a ransom for you. The “wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23)! God wants to completely restore your friends, your family members, and your co-workers. He wants them to know that He delights in them! But in order for people who don’t know Jesus to understand exactly how much He loves them, there has to be a “messenger…a mediator, one among a thousand, to show man His uprightness” (v 23).

Will you be a mediator? Will you tell people in your life who don’t know Jesus just how much He loves them? Will you commit to showing other people – whether you’ve known them for moments or for decades – God’s uprightness?

God needs mediators: men and women who aren’t afraid to boldly proclaim the love of God. People who aren’t afraid to jump in and tell the truth: that apart from Jesus, there is no righteousness with God, but in Him is eternal life! Will you be His messenger to lead people around you to Jesus?

Prayer:

Father, make me a messenger. I want to tell people about Jesus! I want to share Your love with them and tell them just how good You are. Fill me with compassion and love, and give me the words to speak, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

[1] “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” – 2 Pet. 3:9

The Daily Word: Saturday, August 28^th, 2021
Job 28:1-30:31
2 Corinthians 2:12-17
Psalm 42:1-11
Proverbs 22:7
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
“But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.” – Job 28:12-13

Job had lost it all: his children, his possessions, and even the affection of his wife. He had reached a place beyond his comprehension. His friends tried to explain (albeit poorly) why Job had ended up where he was! But Job was not satisfied with their answer. He had reached a place which the wisdom of man could not explain.

Sooner or later, you will get to this point in your life. You will need to make a decision, or you will be faced with a circumstance, that simply does not make sense. You did all the right things but you still ended up there? You took all the right steps but you still ended up here?

Job had a longing in his heart for heavenly wisdom. Nothing he had found in the world satisfied his longing for God! And like it or not, you have the same longing inside of you. You have a hole that only God can fill. You have a purpose that only God can explain! And if you try to get through your life without seeking the wisdom of God, you will never fulfill your purpose. You will always feel like something is missing, no matter how successful you become, and no matter how much stuff you accumulate.

Seek the wisdom of God. What He provides is better than anything this world can offer.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. – 1 Cor. 1:25

Prayer:

Father, I pray that I would never seek after the wisdom of this world, but only the wisdom of Heaven! There are things in this world that only You can explain. I will seek Your wisdom with all my heart, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Friday, August 27^th, 2021
Job 23:1-27:23
2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11
Psalm 41:1-13
Proverbs 22:5-6
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. – 2 Cor. 1:12

God wants your life to be simple and sincere. Simplicity is the opposite of duplicity. You are living for one purpose: to worship Jesus.

Do you remember how complicated your life used to be before you got saved? I do. I used to lie to everyone. And then I had to remember whom I had already lied to so I could make sure I didn’t mix up my stories. And then I had to make sure that nobody who heard one lie talked to somebody who had heard another lie. And then I had to lie to preserve my image as a “nice guy” even though I was lying all the time! It was exhausting, because I was not living “in simplicity and godly sincerity.”

But now that I have Jesus, I don’t have to lie anymore. God knows exactly who I am! He knows I am a sinner, but He loves me just the same. And while I was still a sinner, He saved me (Rom. 5:8). He died for me! And if the God of the universe accepts me for who I am, why should I be concerned if anyone else rejects me?

God loves you here and now. And when you receive His love, you can drop the act! You don’t have to pretend you’re someone else anymore. You get to live “in simplicity and godly sincerity:” worshiping Him with your whole heart, every day of your life, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for helping me to keep it simple. I am so grateful that I get to live with simplicity and godly sincerity. You have redeemed me from my past! And there is only One to whom I will direct my attention in the future, in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Thursday, August 26^th, 2021
Job 20:1-22:30
2 Corinthians 1:1-11
Psalm 40:11-17
Proverbs 22:2-4
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me. – Ps. 40:12

David was in a tough place. He was being impacted externally (others acting wickedly towards David) and internally (David sinning against God and harming himself). In fact, David knew the depth of his depravity. He was so lost and so sinful that his iniquities – his “perversity, depravity, or guilt”[1] – were more than the hairs of his head! He was so lost that he had lost count.

But God never loses count. God cares about the details! David couldn’t even remember all his sins. But God was faithful to forgive them![2] God sees exactly what you’re going through. He knows exactly what you need in every situation! He has the hairs on your head numbered.[3] Nothing escapes His attention, and no detail escapes His purview, no matter how big or small. God will deliver you and raise you up, because He delights in you[4] and He cares.[5]

Prayer:

Father, thank You for caring about every single detail of my life! I know I have been creative in my mistakes; but you see them all and You love me just the same. I am grateful for the cross! And I am grateful for Your love in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

[1] Strong’s H5771

[2] “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 Jn. 1:9

[3] “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” – Matt. 10:30

[4] “He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.” – Ps. 18:19

[5] “…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7

The Daily Word: Wednesday, August 25^th, 2021
Job 16:1-19:29
1 Corinthians 16:1-24
Psalm 40:1-10
Proverbs 22:1
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. – Ps. 40:2

God rescues you from pits. He redeems you from the worst possible messes you could ever be in! The significance of this statement: “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay,” has been lost on our generation. But we see the context in Jeremiah 38:6:

So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.

Jeremiah was thrown into the pit. Waiting for him at the bottom was mire: damp, thick mud, into which a prisoner would sink. Once you were in the mire, there was no way out. You would die of infection before you died of starvation! It was disgusting, humiliating, and deadly, all mixed into one. Once you were in the mire, all that was left to do was sit and wait to die.

But God rescued Jeremiah:

“So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon.” – Jer. 38:13

And God will rescue you! When you are physically stuck, He pulls you out. When you are sinking into hope and despair, He lifts you up! He sets your feet upon a rock. He establishes your steps, and reminds you just how much He loves you, so that you can pass from death to life.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for Your goodness! Thank You for rescuing me. Thank You for redeeming me! Thank You for lifting me up out of the miry mess I am in. You are faithful and Your Word is true, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Tuesday, August 24^th, 2021
Job 12:1-15:35
1 Corinthians 15:29-58
Psalm 39:1-13
Proverbs 21:30-31
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. – 1 Cor. 15:58

We do not labor for this life. We labor for the life to come! We do not follow God for rewards that we will receive in the flesh. We follow Him for the reward that will come in Heaven! Be steadfast. Be immovable! Keep moving forward, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Even if you do not achieve what you think you should in this life: there will be more than you could dream of inheriting in your eternal life to come with Jesus!

Don’t forget the reason you are alive. When you die, your life doesn’t end. It begins. And you will spend eternity celebrating everything God gave you to accomplish for His kingdom, so that men and women could come to know Him! Look at how Paul summarizes what is coming when Jesus returns:

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. – 1 Cor. 15:51-52

This life is not all there is! When Jesus comes back for you, you will be raised: not the same as you were, but incorruptible. Perfect and wonderfully made in your heavenly body! You will be changed: eternally and irrevocably.

You are not living for here. You are living for there! Never forget it. Be encouraged! And take joy in serving the Lord with all your heart.

Prayer:

Father, I am so grateful that I get to serve You! Thank You for allowing me to live my life with the understanding that there is so much more than this life. I am not living for earth! I am living for heaven. And I am grateful that You have opened my eyes to what really matters, in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Monday, August 23^rd, 2021
Job 8:1-11:20
1 Corinthians 15:1-28
Psalm 38:1-22
Proverbs 21:28-29
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. – 1 Cor. 15:10

The Apostle Paul wrote about half of the New Testament. But when it came time to recognize his life’s work as an apostle, he took the opportunity to deflect the glory to Jesus. “By the grace of God I am what I am.” Only God could take a man who murdered and imprisoned Christians and make him one of the greatest Gospel ministers the world has ever seen! And Paul would not rest until God received all the glory; because it was only by the grace of God that Paul was Paul at all.

Now yes, Paul had to work hard! But it was the “grace of God which was with [Paul]” that enabled him to work hard. The narrative of your life is the same. You have worked hard! But it is God’s grace that gave you the strength, grit, and determination to get you where you are today. You only have what you have by the grace of God. You only are who you are by the grace of God. So thank Him! And then get back to work, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for Your grace! Thank You for Your divine empowerment to make me who I am today. I am grateful! And I give You all the glory, in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Sunday, August 22^nd, 2021
Job 4:1-7:21
1 Corinthians 14:18-40
Psalm 37:30-40
Proverbs 21:27
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue. – 1 Cor. 14:18-19

Spiritual gifts are not about you. They are for the “profit of all” (1 Cor. 12:7). In today’s passage, the Apostle Paul is explaining the utility of praying in tongues. He thanked God that he spoke in tongues more than everyone in the church at Corinth! But then he made a distinction in what was for him, versus what was for others. He “would rather speak five words [of prophecy]…than ten thousand words in a tongue” (v 19). Why? Because people who don’t know Jesus can’t interpret your tongues! But they can receive a word of knowledge or prophecy.

Everything you do in ministry should be for other people. Don’t pray that God will do something that will make you look good! Pray He will do something that will make Him look good. Whenever you exercise spiritual gifts,[1] the purpose is never to highlight you or your ministry! It is to highlight God’s faithfulness and His power.

…that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. – 1 Cor. 2:5

Prayer:

Lord, use me! I pray Your Holy Spirit would move through me like never before. Speak in tongues through me! Speak in prophecy through me! But please let my ministry always and only be defined by what will lead people who don’t know Jesus straight to Him!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

[1] See 1 Cor. 12:8-10