The Hopelessness of Job

11/6/2011 8:15:09 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  The hopelessness of Job

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Job 14

                Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  "Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil. 2  "Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. 3  "You also open Your eyes on him And bring him into judgment with Yourself. 4  "Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one! 5  "Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass. 6  "Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest, Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.

   “ 7 ¶  "For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And its shoots will not fail. 8  "Though its roots grow old in the ground And its stump dies in the dry soil, 9  At the scent of water it will flourish And put forth sprigs like a plant. 10  "But man dies and lies prostrate. Man expires, and where is he? 11  "As water evaporates from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dried up, 12  So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no longer, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep. 13  "Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me! 14  "If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my change comes. 15  "You will call, and I will answer You; You will long for the work of Your hands.

    “16 ¶  "For now You number my steps, You do not observe my sin. 17  "My transgression is sealed up in a bag, And You wrap up my iniquity. 18  "But the falling mountain crumbles away, And the rock moves from its place; 19  Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy man’s hope. 20  "You forever overpower him and he departs; You change his appearance and send him away. 21  "His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it; Or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it. 22  "But his body pains him, And he mourns only for himself.’”

                In Job 11:13-20 Zophar was telling Job that there was hope for him if he only would confess to the Lord that he had sinned, and that is what had caused all of the trouble that came upon him.  Now we see in verse fourteen that Job does not agree with this assessment and so he believes that his life is hopeless.

                In the first part of this chapter Job will use some metaphors to show the hopeless of life, things like a flower that fades away quickly, of a shadow that moves away quickly.  Job seems to wondering why God would fill a man’s short life with pain and suffering, after all if life is only like a fleeing flower should not God not cause man to have so much pain, but of course Job is mistaken about this view of life, for man is born a sinner, an d man lives on a earth that has been cursed because of sin. 

                Job even speak of a tree that is cut down and then the stump dies for lack of water, but when water comes the stump will produce some sprouts to live again, unlike man who when he dies it is over.  This is another thing that Job is mistaken of.  “37  "But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB. 38  "Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him.’”  (Luke 20:37-38)  It seems that Job does get the right answer to this question in Job 19:25-27 “25  "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26  "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; 27  Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!’”

                In verse nineteen Job says, “Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy man’s hope.”  Job is mistakenly saying this about God because he did not know God as well as he should have, but we must remember that the Lord revealed Himself slowly to man, for when the Lord Jesus Christ came he told Philip that if you have seen Me you have seen the Father, and now all believers have the blessed Holy Spirit living in them and a full Bible to read, so we cannot be too hard on Job, for most of us probably do not take advantage of all that God has given to us at this time.

                Believers today have hope, for Paul wrote to Titus that the second coming of Christ is our hope, and hope helps us go through the tough times, but Job did not have this kind of hope, but things will get better for him.

                Let me finish this part of this SD with the words of Paul that he wrote to the Roman church:  “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I mentioned that as believers living in today’s society, after the cross, and in days when we can have the Bible on CDs and listen and watch great sermons, and have all kinds of wonderful helps to study the Word, there are many times when I don’t take full advantage of this in order to learn more of God’s Word and do more things that the Lord wants me to do. 

                I also do not want to give up the hope that I as a believe have, even when times get hard, for God is sovereign and has full control of my life, and has promised to work things out for my good and for His glory.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.    1John 4:18.

2.    Philippians 4:11b.

3.    Romans 12:1-2.

4.    Proverbs 3:5-6.

5.    Ephesians 6:10-18.

6.    Romans 15:13.

11/6/2011 8:56:03 AM

The Integrity of Job

11/5/2011 9:02:48 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  The integrity of Job

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Job 13

                Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  "Behold, my eye has seen all this, My ear has heard and understood it. 2  "What you know I also know; I am not inferior to you. 3  "But I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to argue with God. 4  "But you smear with lies; You are all worthless physicians. 5  "O that you would be completely silent, And that it would become your wisdom! 6  "Please hear my argument And listen to the contentions of my lips. 7  "Will you speak what is unjust for God, And speak what is deceitful for Him? 8  "Will you show partiality for Him? Will you contend for God? 9  "Will it be well when He examines you? Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man? 10  "He will surely reprove you If you secretly show partiality. 11  "Will not His majesty terrify you, And the dread of Him fall on you? 12  "Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, Your defenses are defenses of clay.

    “13 ¶  "Be silent before me so that I may speak; Then let come on me what may. 14  "Why should I take my flesh in my teeth And put my life in my hands? 15  "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him. 16  "This also will be my salvation, For a godless man may not come before His presence. 17  "Listen carefully to my speech, And let my declaration fill your ears. 18  "Behold now, I have prepared my case; I know that I will be vindicated. 19  "Who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die. 20  "Only two things do not do to me, Then I will not hide from Your face: 21  Remove Your hand from me, And let not the dread of You terrify me. 22  "Then call, and I will answer; Or let me speak, then reply to me.

  “23 ¶  "How many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin. 24  "Why do You hide Your face And consider me Your enemy? 25  "Will You cause a driven leaf to tremble? Or will You pursue the dry chaff? 26  "For You write bitter things against me And make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth. 27  "You put my feet in the stocks And watch all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet, 28  While I am decaying like a rotten thing, Like a garment that is moth-eaten.”

                In this thirteenth chapter of Job Dr. Wiersbe points out three things in his introduction to this second sub-point under his main point “Job’s three affirmations.”  In verses one through twelve Job expresses his disappointment to his three friends.  In verses thirteen through seventeen he expresses his declaration of faith in the Lord, and in the remaining verses his desire that God come to him so that he can get the issue settled once and for all.  We will look at these in more detail one at a time.

                Disappointment (Job 13:1-12):  I would suppose that if one looks at Job’s three friends, one could say that they were trying to be counselors to Job; however they were not doing a good job at all to put it mildly.  Job was a man in great pain, both physically and also emotionally, and he did not need these men to give him their rigid view of God and he tells them as much.  In verse twelve Job tells them that their advice to him was like “proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.”  “What the three friends thought were profound statements of truth were only warmed over ashes from ancient fires, clay pots that would fall apart.”  Dr. Wiersbe goes on to say that “A good counselor needs much more than a good memory.  He or she also needs wisdom to know how to apply the truth to the needs of people today.”  Job’s friends failed in this and would soon find this out from the Lord.  In the book of Romans chapter fourteen and verses one through thirteen you find some wonderful advice from the pen of Paul on how to deal with people who are of weaker faith.

                Declaration (Job 13:13-17):  In the beginning of his commentary on this section Dr. Wiersbe writes “This is one of the greatest declarations of faith found anywhere in Scripture, but it must be understood in its context.  Job is saying, ‘I will take my case directly to God and prove my integrity.  I know I am taking my life in my hands in approaching God, because He is able to slay me.  But if He doesn’t slay me, it is proof that I am not the hypocrite you say I am.’ “Job was so sure of his integrity that he would go and tell God of it.  When we think of Exodus thirty-three and Moses wanting to see God, that too took courage.  Again I go back to the passage in Isaiah six when Isaiah was transported to the throne room of God and even though he was a believer when he got there he said, “"Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”  What Job wanted to do took great courage.

                Desire (Job 13:18-28):  The words we find in this section are addressed to God for Job has “prepared his case” (verse 18 NIV) and Job is sure that he will win. 

We see in this section two desires that Job has: That God would remove His chastening hand and give Job relief, and that God would come to Job in such a way that H would not frighten him.  Again we see Job inviting God to court like we saw in an earlier chapter.  It is important to remember that Job has no idea that there is a contest between God and Satan, and how Job responds to this contest will prove who the winner.  I must say that God would not have put Job in this position if He thought that he would not stand up to all that was going against him.

Job had a desire to meet with God even though he knew that he was not an important man, for Job describes himself as an enemy of God, a weak leaf in the wind, a piece of chaff that is worthless, a rotten piece of wood, or a moth-eaten garment.

I would like to interject something that I heard from a sermon that I listened to between 1:00AM and 2:00PM this morning because I could not sleep.  The sermon was about the fall of Satan, but in the beginning John MacArthur spent some time looking at both Adam and also Job.  In the case of Adam’s sin he blamed God for giving him the woman, yet God did not answer him because, as MacArthur said that Adam had crossed the line thinking that God was the one behind evil.  Now when we look at the case of Job when God comes to speak to him He does not answer to Job why he was going through what he was going through.  God is sovereign and does not have to answer to man, yet God does tell us some things, and we should be thankful for the things that He tells us.  One of my favorite verse in the Bible is Deuteronomy 29:29 and I go to it when I do not understand something from the Scriptures, something like the sovereignty of God.  “’The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.’”  I believe what Moses is saying is that God is God and He does not have to tell us everything, but what He does tell us we had better listen to.  We will see this later on in the study of Job.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to talk about two verses that are on my heart this morning.  Romans 10:17 is a verse that many people use to wittiness to others that are in need of saving faith.  I believe that God gives those who believe in His provision of salvation the gift of faith that they might accept this precious gift.  However there is found in this something for those walk with the Lord and want their faith increased.  “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  In his book “How to Obtain Fulness of Power in Christian Life and Service” R. A. Torrey writes the following after quoting this verse, “You can never get faith by merely praying; you can never get it by any effort of the will; you can never get it by trying to pump it up in any way.  Fait is the product of a certain cause, and the cause in the Word of God.  It is so, for example, with saving faith.  Simply give him something definite from God’s Word upon which he can rest.  The Philippian jailor asked: ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’  (Acts 16:30) and Paul answered: ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.’  But Paul did not stop there.  Read the 32^nd verse: ‘And they spake unto him the Word of the Lord and to all that were in his house.’  They did not merely tell the Philippian jailor to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and then leave him there floundering in the dark without giving him something to believe, or something for his faith to rest upon.  They gave that which God has ordained to produce faith.” 

This points out to me why I have a desire to continue to study the Bible, for by doing so it will increase my faith.  Of course there are other reasons, like bringing glory to God, along with helping others grow in their faith or leading people to the Lord, but all of this surely takes faith, and the verse says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.

 One of the verses that I have a desire to claim to increase my faith is 1Jo 4:18  “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”  (KJV)  Not having fear of circumstances is part of being content, knowing that God is sovereign and in control of all things in my life should not cause me to fear.  As I look at the book of Job I do not see Job fearing what has happened to him, he surely did not understand why things were happening to him, but he does not seem to fear over these things.  This is one of the areas that I desire to be like Job.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.    1John 4:18.

2.    Romans 12:1-2.

3.    Philippians 4:11b.

4.    Ephesians 6:10-18.

5.    Proverbs 3:5-6.

6.    Psalms 139:23-24.

11/5/2011 10:29:35 AM

Job's First Affirmation

11/4/2011 9:17:40 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  Job’s Three Affirmations

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Job 12-14

                Message of the verses:  In this section of Job we will see that Job will answer the three accusations that Zophar had said to Job.  He will begin in chapter twelve with the second accusation that Job had no knowledge of God, and also speaks to the fact that he has wisdom and understanding in chapter twelve.  Job then moves to the first accusation that Zophar gave, that he was a guilty sinner, and Job continues to affirm his integrity in Job 13.  Zophar had told Job that there would be hope if he would only confess his sins to the Lord, but in chapter fourteen Job believes that there is little hope.

                We will now look at the greatness of God from Job twelve:  “1 ¶  Then Job responded, 2  "Truly then you are the people, And with you wisdom will die! 3  "But I have intelligence as well as you; I am not inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these? 4  "I am a joke to my friends, The one who called on God and He answered him; The just and blameless man is a joke. 5  "He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt, As prepared for those whose feet slip.

    “6 ¶  "The tents of the destroyers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure, Whom God brings into their power. 7  "But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. 8  "Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you. 9  "Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this, 10  In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind? 11  "Does not the ear test words, As the palate tastes its food?

   “ 12 ¶  "Wisdom is with aged men, With long life is understanding. 13  "With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding. 14  "Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; He imprisons a man, and there can be no release. 15  "Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up; And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth. 16  "With Him are strength and sound wisdom, The misled and the misleader belong to Him. 17  "He makes counselors walk barefoot And makes fools of judges. 18  "He loosens the bond of kings And binds their loins with a girdle. 19  "He makes priests walk barefoot And overthrows the secure ones. 20  "He deprives the trusted ones of speech And takes away the discernment of the elders. 21  "He pours contempt on nobles And loosens the belt of the strong. 22  "He reveals mysteries from the darkness And brings the deep darkness into light. 23  "He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away. 24  "He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people And makes them wander in a pathless waste. 25  "They grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.”

                There are two verses that truly speak to my heart that are found in chapter twelve of Job.  The first one is verse one when even though Job is in pain and has suffered great loss there is still a bit of humor that comes from his lips, humor that is true, for the three friends of Job thought that they knew everything.  Verse twelve is a great verse for the younger generation; for when you are young you think you know everything, especially the young generation that is in America at this time.  They don’t need the older generation, for  they only get in their way of progress.  This generation, for the most part, gets their wisdom from their cell phones and from their laptops, so there is no need for the wisdom from the older generation who has been through the tough times, made mistakes, and can tell them of these things.

                In the first part of this section Job rebukes his friends for being so unfeeling toward him and turning him into a laughingstock.  He only felt that he was upright, which is exactly the way that God had described Job.  Job is saying to these people that because they are at ease, not having any problems, that God is punishing Job, but Job asks why God was not punishing the robbers and other people who provoke God. 

                In chapter eleven (7-9z) Zophar had claimed that wisdom was not accessible to man, yet Job illustrates through the animals that they know that God had created everything.  Animals have less of a hard time obeying the Lord than we do.  My favorite character in the OT is Balaam’s donkey.  Now some make think that is strange, but the reason that I like her, and yes it was a female donkey, is because she was available to be used of the Lord.  When God wanted her to talk to Balaam she did and did not argue about it, but just did what she was told, for she was available to be used of God.  Man is not that way for much of the time, but that is what I desire to be available to do what my Lord wants me to do.

                We can see from verses twelve through twenty-five that Job is describing the wisdom and the power of God.  We can see in these verses that God is sovereign and will do what he desires to do with nature and with people alike. 

                Job’s argument in all of this is that all kinds of people experience difficulties in life because God can do what He pleases.  God is not a respecter of persons and surely is not impressed with people’s ranks, something we on earth seem to be far too much of.

                This section is a great section about the sovereignty of God, and in verses 23-25 Job describes how God is sovereign over the nations.  Daniel 2:20-22 and Acts 17:24-28 also speak of this.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  We will take up more of this last main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Job in the next SD, as each of the sub-points under this main point take up a whole chapter of Job.

                The sovereignty of God is a great subject that is covered throughout the Scriptures and one that is worth studying all by itself.  I have studied it from different books and it is now a great part of my life.  God is God and He can do as He wishes.  There have been some crazy questions about God that do not deserve an answer, but the fact remains that God can do what He wants to do within His character.  God cannot sin.  Whatever God does will bring glory to Him, and all of God’s attributes bring glory to Him.  Too many people today put God in a box saying that God has to do this or that, but He will do what He wants when He wants to do it.  The best way to understand this is to continue to read your Bible each and every day, and not just read it but study it.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.    Continue to trust the Lord through the challenges that I am going through at this time.

2.    Continue to learn contentment.

3.    Give myself to the Lord for this day and be available to do what He wants me to do.

4.    Put on the Spiritual armor.

5.    Trust in the Lord and do not lean on my understanding.

6.    Psalm 139: 23 “ Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24  And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

11/4/2011 10:18:28 AM

Zophar's Three Accusations

11/3/2011 9:42:24 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  Zophar’s Three Accusations

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Job 11:1-20

                Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Then Zophar the Naamathite answered, 2  "Shall a multitude of words go unanswered, And a talkative man be acquitted? 3  "Shall your boasts silence men? And shall you scoff and none rebuke? 4  "For you have said, ’My teaching is pure, And I am innocent in your eyes.’ 5  "But would that God might speak, And open His lips against you, 6  And show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.

    “7 ¶  "Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? 8  "They are high as the heavens, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know? 9  "Its measure is longer than the earth And broader than the sea. 10  "If He passes by or shuts up, Or calls an assembly, who can restrain Him? 11  "For He knows false men, And He sees iniquity without investigating. 12  "An idiot will become intelligent When the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.

    “13 ¶  "If you would direct your heart right And spread out your hand to Him, 14  If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, And do not let wickedness dwell in your tents; 15  "Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect, And you would be steadfast and not fear. 16  "For you would forget your trouble, As waters that have passed by, you would remember it. 17  "Your life would be brighter than noonday; Darkness would be like the morning. 18  "Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely. 19  "You would lie down and none would disturb you, And many would entreat your favor. 20  "But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last.’”

                We begin today looking at the fourth chapter of Dr. Wiersbe’s Commentary on Job which he entitles “An Angry “Younger” Man” and it will cover chapters eleven through fourteen of Job.  Zophar is probably the youngest of the three men who came to see Job, and that is why he spoke last.  His words to Job are short, but full of anger, and this was not the time of the place to be angry with Job.  Job was in great pain, and sitting on an ash heap, so sympathy would have been better.

                In his introduction to this chapter Dr. Wiersbe writes, “Zophar makes three accusations against Job:  Job is guilty of sin (Job 11:1-4); Job is ignorant of God (vv. 5-12); and Job is stubborn in his refusal to repent (vv. 13-20).  In his reply, Job answers all three accusations:  He affirms God’s greatness (Job 12) and his own innocence (Job 13), but he has not hope, so why should he repent? (Job 14)

                Here is a verse that all three of Job “friends” could have used that would have helped Job out “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15)

                “Job is guilty!”  (Job 11:1-4)  Zophar starts out his speech to Job the same way that Bildad did, saying that Job was a windbag.  These three friend of Job were focusing on the words that Job was speaking, and not the feelings that were behind the words.  Dr. Wiersbe quotes an old Chinese proverb which says “Through conversing face to face, their hearts have a thousand miles between them.”  Sidney J. Harris writes “Information is giving out; communication is getting through.”

            One can get the impression that Job is saying that he is completely innocent, even sinless, but this was not true, and I don’t think that Job thought it was true either, however because of the things his friends said to him and the pain that he was in, these things could have caused his thinking to be wrong.

                Job is ignorant of God (Job 11:5-12) Zophar says to Job in verse five “But would that God might speak, And open His lips against you,” and Job 38:1 says “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said.”  Zophar got his wish as well as Job, but I am not sure that they truly got what they wished for.  I think of Isaiah in his book when he was somehow transported to the throne room of God.  Isaiah was a believer but once he was in that throne room he could only say, “"Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’”  As a believer Isaiah had his sinned forgiven, for salvation in the OT was putting your faith in the Messiah who would come and pay for your sins, while in the NT we look back at what Jesus Christ has accomplished on the cross for us, and put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us of our sins.  The point of this Isaiah passage is that even though he was a believer he still felt dirty and unclean before God, and that is how Job would feel when God began to talk to him. 

            When God began to speak to Job from the whirlwind He rebuked Job’s friends, but not Job. 

                In verses Zophar was hinting that he knew the great and vast wisdom of God, and thought that he could teach it to Job.  Job did not want to hear this from Zophar.

                In verse six Zophar tells Job that God forgets a part of your iniquity, but that is not true, for when a person has been born into the family of God through the new birth God forgets all of their sins.  It seems that Zophar in saying this could be saying that God could punish you more, not a good thing to say to a man who has lost all of his family, wealth, and health.

                “Zophar closed this accusation by quoting a proverb (11:12).  It’s not easy to ascertain its meaning.  The proverb may be saying that no matter how stupid a man is when he is born, even as dumb as a wild donkey, there is still hope for him to become intelligent.  Or the proverb might be saying just the opposite, as in the NIV:  ‘But a witless man cannot more become wise than a wild donkey’s colt can be born a man.’  The NASB agrees ‘An idiot will become intelligent when the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.’  In view of Zophar’s anger and insulting language, it is likely that the NIV and NASB translations are correct.”

                Job is stubborn and should repent (Job 11:13-20).  Zophar tells Job in verse eighteen that there is hope, but that hope had to come the way that Zophar explained it to him, and this was the same way that Satan told God that the only reason that Job was worshiping God was because of all of his wealth and health.  Yes Satan has a mouth piece speaking to Job through these three friends of Job. 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Job did not have a ‘commercial faith’ that made bargains with God.  He had a confident faith that said, ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him’ (13:15).  That doesn’t sound like a man looking for an easy way out of difficulties. ‘Job did not understand the Lord’s reasons,’ said C. H. Spurgeon, ‘but he continued to confide in His goodness.’  That is faith!”

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  That is the kind of faith that I need and want, for things do not always go well, and there are times when I am tested and things go wrong, and I need to have that Job like faith.  There is much to be learned from the book of Job and I am so happy to be able to learn some of these great truths that are found in this book.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.    Romans 12:1-2.

2.    Ephesians 6:10-18.

3.    Proverbs 3:5-6.

4.    Philippians 4:11b.

11/3/2011 10:59:43 AM

Job asks "Why Was I Born"

11/2/2011 8:39:20 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Why Was I Born

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Job 10:1-22

                Message of the verses:  Before putting the verses on this SD I would like to remind you that this is the last sub-point from the third chapter of Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Job.  For those who have never read from my Spiritual Diaries I use the outline from Warren Wiersbe’s “Be” books to aid me in understanding the Scriptures.

                “1 ¶  "I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2  "I will say to God, ’Do not condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me. 3  ’Is it right for You indeed to oppress, To reject the labor of Your hands, And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked? 4  ’Have You eyes of flesh? Or do You see as a man sees? 5  ’Are Your days as the days of a mortal, Or Your years as man’s years, 6  That You should seek for my guilt And search after my sin? 7  ’According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.

    “8 ¶  ’Your hands fashioned and made me altogether, And would You destroy me? 9  ’Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again? 10  ’Did You not pour me out like milk And curdle me like cheese; 11  Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews? 12  ’You have granted me life and lovingkindness; And Your care has preserved my spirit. 13  ’Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart; I know that this is within You:

    “14 ¶  If I sin, then You would take note of me, And would not acquit me of my guilt. 15  ’If I am wicked, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery. 16  ’Should my head be lifted up, You would hunt me like a lion; And again You would show Your power against me. 17  ’You renew Your witnesses against me And increase Your anger toward me; Hardship after hardship is with me. 18  ’Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Would that I had died and no eye had seen me! 19  ’I should have been as though I had not been, Carried from womb to tomb.’ 20  "Would He not let my few days alone? Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer 21  Before I go-and I shall not return- To the land of darkness and deep shadow, 22  The land of utter gloom as darkness itself, Of deep shadow without order, And which shines as the darkness.’”

                We need to first of all understand that in this tenth chapter of Job, Job is speaking directly to God and not to his friends.  He is saying to God that He is the One who created him and now He seems to be destroying him, and Job wants to understand why He is doing this.  Job has become bitter over the things that have happened to him, and I would say that in Job’s case this was understandable.

                In verses four through six Job is saying that God is not mortal and therefore is outside of time.  I must say that time is one of the great mysteries to me, at least being outside of time is.  On the first day of creation, at the end of that day is says, “And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”  This is Genesis 1:5b.  My point is that God created time on that first day.  These days of creation were six twenty-four days, and thus time began as we know it know.  The mystery to me is that which is outside of time, and heaven is outside of time.  When a believer dies his spirit is taken directly to heaven, for Paul writes that absent from the body is present with the Lord, and then that believer is outside of time.  While reading from “Mere Christianity” that that was written by C. L. Lewis this issue of outside of time became a bit clearer to me, but while we are here on earth in these mortal bodies we will never fully understand all of the mysteries of being outside of time.

                In Job’s case he was saying that because God was outside of time He did not need to investigate things for He knows the beginning from the end, He knew all about Job and his trials.

                Job wants to know why God brought him out of the womb in the first place, for Job though that because he was going through such difficulties that it would have been better if he would have gone from the womb to the tomb. 

                Job did not understand that God was using him as a weapon to defeat Satan, for if he would have understood then it seems to me that he would not have been qualified to be that weapon.  When Jesus was being anointed by Mary with the expensive perfume Judas and some of the others thought that it was a great waste, and were asking “why this waste.”  Job felt the same about what he was going through at this time of his life.  As believers we do not always understand what God is doing, and there are times when we see a young person die, or a baby die and we feel like Job and Jesus’ disciples did, that it was such a waste.

                Dr. Wiersbe writes, “Nothing that is given to Christ in faith and love is ever wasted.  The fragrance of Mary’s ointment faded from the scene centuries ago, but the significance of her worship has blessed Christians in every age and continues to do so.  Job was bankrupt and sick, and all he could give to the Lord was his suffering by faith; but that is just what God wanted in order to silence the devil.”

                “Job asked, ‘Why was I born?’  In the light of his losses and his personal suffering, it all seemed such a waste!  But God knew what He was doing then, and He knows what He is doing now.”

                Job’s story is one of the great stories that is found in a Book that has the best story in it, and that is the story of how God became a man to die for those who could never earn what was accomplished on the cross by themselves, and yet it is offered as a free gift, and those who will accept this free gift will belong to the greatest family ever, the family of God.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  For those who read in one of the first SD’s on Job that Dr. Wiersbe said that he realized that he was going to have to go through a trial in order to understand the book of Job, and did go through a trial, but did not mention what it was.  He then said if one studies the book of Job the same may happen to them in order to understand what Job was going through.  Well I can say that I had what I will call a Job moment yesterday morning.  I will not go into the details but will say that my wife and I have had several difficulties that we have gone through since my retirement a number of years ago, and the weight of those trials came crashing down on me in a moment of time yesterday, and the experience was difficult, very difficult on me, and yet after thinking and praying about it I believe that I actually felt a little bit like Job felt and therefore understood a bit better his feelings as he went through this difficult time in his life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.    Continue to trust the Lord in times of trouble so that I may say with Paul “11  Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

2.    Romans 12:1-2.

3.    Proverbs 3:5-6.

4.    Ephesians 6:10-18.

11/2/2011 9:38:42 AM

Three Painful Questions Part-3

11/1/2011 6:22:53 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  Three Painful Questions PT-2 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Job 9:1-10:22

                Message of the verses:  It should be noted that all of the background material for this SD is written in yesterday’s SD.

                “How can I meet God in court?”  (Job 9:14-35):  “14 ¶  "How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him? 15  "For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my judge. 16  "If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice. 17  "For He bruises me with a tempest And multiplies my wounds without cause. 18  "He will not allow me to get my breath, But saturates me with bitterness. 19  "If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him? 20  "Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty. 21  "I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I despise my life.

   “ 22 ¶  "It is all one; therefore I say, ’He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’ 23  "If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent. 24  "The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

    “25 ¶  "Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good. 26  "They slip by like reed boats, Like an eagle that swoops on its prey. 27  "Though I say, ’I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful,’ 28  I am afraid of all my pains, I know that You will not acquit me. 29  "I am accounted wicked, Why then should I toil in vain? 30  "If I should wash myself with snow And cleanse my hands with lye, 31  Yet You would plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes would abhor me. 32  "For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, That we may go to court together. 33  "There is no umpire between us, Who may lay his hand upon us both. 34  "Let Him remove His rod from me, And let not dread of Him terrify me. 35  "Then I would speak and not fear Him; But I am not like that in myself.”

                Job seems to have a problem here, for his desire is to take God to court, but if God would accept the summons from Job to go to court then what would Job say to him or do?  Job answers the questions here.

                “(1) ‘If God came, what would I say?’ (vv.14-19).”    Job would not be able answer God for he realizes the power of God, and therefore would not be able to answer any questions that God would ask him.  In chapters 38-41 Job will find out that this is correct, for God will ask him seventy-seven questions and Job will not be able to answer Him, and so he shuts his mouth before God.

                “(2) ‘If I could declare my innocence, what then?’  (vv.20-24)”   Job does not understand God like he thinks he does, for Job is actually accusing God of being unjust.  Job has seen the godly go before an unjust judge and found guilty, and the ungodly go before a just judge and be found guilty.  Both Bildad and Eliphaz have said that the wicked are punished by God but not the righteous.

                “(3)  ‘If I try to be happy, what good will that do?’  (vv. 25-31)”  I think that one of the points that we find here is evident throughout most of the book of Job, and that is that Job believes that God is against him.  Job knows in his heart that his life is fading away quickly, and describes that in this section.  Job knows in his heart that if he forgot his pain and smile, and put on new clothes that it would not help him.  Job believes that anything that he does will be nullified in heaven, so putting on a happy face would do him no good.

                “(4)  ‘If only I had a mediator!’  (vv. 32-35)”  Job says that he needs a mediator to go between God and him, and thus represent him before God.  It would be a long time in history before that Mediator would come, but He would come and He would be both God and man, for God became man in the person of Jesus Christ and He is our legal representative before God.

                There is one more question that Job asks and we will take that up in the next SD.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I must admit that there are times when I seem to act like Job, especially in times of crisis, when I wonder what God is up to in my life, and why I have to go through some of the problems that I am going through, and yet I have the Holy Spirit living in me to guide and to direct me, and to convict me of any sin so that I can have fellowship with God.  I also have the complete Bible before me that tells me that there are times when I will experience troubles, for Jesus Christ did while He was upon this earth, and therefore as His follower I can expect the same, but I am to be of good cheer, for the life that I am living here on earth is just the proving ground for real life that will be experienced in heaven.  The life that I live here is the testing ground for what I will be doing in heaven.  I need to keep all of this in mind as I go about life on planet earth.

1.    Romans 8:28.

2.    Philippians 4:11b.

3.    Proverbs 3:5-6.

4.    Ephesians 6:10-18.

5.    1Corinthians 10:13.

11/1/2011 7:05:03 AM