Daily Devotions · November 12
Reading for November 12
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Job 37–38 · 1 Corinthians 12
Job 37–38 · 1 Corinthians 12, Berean Standard Bible
Job 37
“At this my heart also pounds and leaps from its place. 2 Listen closely to the thunder of His voice and the rumbling that comes from His mouth. 3 He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth. 4 Then there comes a roaring sound; He thunders with His majestic voice. He does not restrain the lightning when His voice resounds. 5 God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things we cannot comprehend. 6 For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’ 7 He seals up the hand of every man, so that all men may know His work. 8 The wild animals enter their lairs; they settle down in their dens. 9 The tempest comes from its chamber, and the cold from the driving north winds. 10 By the breath of God the ice is formed and the watery expanses are frozen. 11 He loads the clouds with moisture; He scatters His lightning through them. 12 They swirl about, whirling at His direction, accomplishing all that He commands over the face of all the earth. 13 Whether for punishment or for His land, He accomplishes this in His loving devotion. 14 Listen to this, O Job; stand still and consider the wonders of God. 15 Do you know how God dispatches the clouds or makes the lightning flash? 16 Do you understand how the clouds float, those wonders of Him who is perfect in knowledge? 17 You whose clothes get hot when the land lies hushed under the south wind, 18 can you, like Him, spread out the skies, as strong as a mirror of bronze? 19 Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness. 20 Should He be told that I want to speak? Would a man ask to be swallowed up? 21 Now no one can gaze at the sun when it is bright in the skies after the wind has swept them clean. 22 Out of the north He comes in golden splendor; awesome majesty surrounds Him. 23 The Almighty is beyond our reach; He is exalted in power! In His justice and great righteousness He does not oppress. 24 Therefore, men fear Him, for He is not partial to the wise in heart.”
Job 38
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 2 “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me. 4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone, 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, 9 when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket, 10 when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors, 11 and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’? 12 In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place, 13 that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it? 14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment. 15 Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken. 16 Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? 18 Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. 19 Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides, 20 so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home? 21 Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great! 22 Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail, 23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle? 24 In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth? 25 Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt, 26 to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives, 27 to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass? 28 Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew? 29 From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven, 30 when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen? 31 Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion? 32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs? 33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? 34 Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you? 35 Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? 36 Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind? 37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens 38 when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together? 39 Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions 40 when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket? 41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
1 Corinthians 12
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different ministries, but the same Lord. 6 There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines. 12 The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink. 14 For the body does not consist of one part, but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, 24 whereas our presentable parts have no such need. But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain.
How to SOAP
Grab a journal and a pen. Read the chapters above and watch for the verse that stops you. Then take it through four steps.
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Scripture
Write out the verse that stood out to you.
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Observation
What is it saying? Who is speaking, and to whom?
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Application
What does it mean for your life today? Be specific.
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Prayer
Talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you live it.
Why daily devotions?
Devotions are time set aside each day to read God's Word and let Him speak. The point isn't checking off chapters. It's meeting with Him.
Ten or fifteen minutes is enough to start. Pick a time and a place and keep the appointment. Mornings work well for a lot of us, before the phone and the day start talking.
Missed a day? Don't start over. Read today's chapters and keep going.