Remnant
Day 327, Friday, July 4
Isaiah Chapter 37
Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Judah has been saved for the moment.
It’s still surrounded by its enemies, effectively under foreign domination and only a shadow of what it once was—but it still stands.
Out of this will come a “remnant”—a “band of survivors.”
Time and again God’s people appear to have been crushed, but an impossibly small number of people, or even one person, still remains obedient and that’s enough to re-start the process of repentance and renewal that is what it takes to keep the flame alive.
Think of Noah and his family, or Joseph, or Moses, or Ezra and Nehemiah and Esther. Each time the day looks darkest, some small spark roars to life.

-Rev. Mark Fleming

Friday meditation

Job 2:1-10
On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Prayer focus
Lord, let the seed of your word live in us, so that whatever happens we may continue to plant it.