Bible League: Living His Word Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job...?"— Job 1:8 NKJV Recently I came to the end of the Book of Job in my personal Bible reading and I was troubled with the same thoughts from previous readings of the book over my 30-year walk with the Lord. Why Lord? Why allow such pain and suffering to one of yours? I have read and studied Job's book many times. I have heard sermons, read commentaries, used illustrations from the book in my own sermons and teachings. I get the good from it, the benefits to the believer. James 5:11 tells us Job was a model of perseverance and patience. Job also shows us that the righteous will suffer and that there is a longing in all of us for a true mediator with God. Good stuff. The agonizing question, however, remained. Why this way with Job, Lord? Coming to the end of the book, praying and asking for divine inspiration to this question, I read in chapter 42 where Job is answering the Lord after so much suffering and before his restoration. He says, "In the past I heard about you (Lord), but now I have seen you with my own eyes, and I am ashamed of myself. I am so sorry. As I sit in dust and ashes I promise to change my heart, and my life" (Job 42:5-6). Wow! It is a true, heartfelt confession from Job. After, meditating on this confession, I was awakened at 1:19 in the morning as clarity filled my heart about Job and the question "Why Lord?" I had to get up an write it down. I was directed back to chapter 1:8 where the Lord says to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?" Satan was looking for a soul to destroy, and the verse seems to imply God was offering up Job as a sacrifice with whom Satan could have his way. And yet, what the Holy Spirit showed me in God offering Job's life to Satan is that God was already dealing with Job in their relationship together. Job's confession and repentance confirms his shortcomings that were going on. Job apparently had great knowledge of God, blessed in the peace of God, "I have heard of you" (Job 42:5). But it is clear from Job he was lacking in a relationship of true depth and love with God. He did not have the fullness of peace. The peace with God which is the ability to experience the peace of God in all things, all circumstances, having a clear conscience (Hebrews 10:20-21). God had to strip Job of his blessings before Job would surrender to a right relationship in peace with the Lord. His confession speaks to Job truly knowing God now and being at total peace with God. Where the relationship was tainted by darkness and the things of the flesh, it is now shining in a light of brightness he did not know before. Praise be to God. What about you beloved of Christ? What about your relationship with God? We are all Job's—imperfect creatures but works in progress. In our relationship with God, He desires all of us to be in a place where we can experience all of life at peace with God. To get to such a place may just depend on how one is willing to change. This is what God wants for you friend. I am not saying you have to lose everything like Job, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. How many flights of stairs must we fall down before looking up to be in complete peace with God? Job got there. What about you friend? By Pastor David Massie, Bible League International staff, California U.S. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading1 Samuel 22, 23, 24 1 Samuel 22 -- Saul Slays the Priests of Nob NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Samuel 23 -- David Saves Keilah, Flees from Saul NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Samuel 24 -- David Spares Saul's Life NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 16:1-18 Luke 16 -- The Parables of the Shrewd Manager, and the Rich Man and Lazarus NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded will learn a lesson;if you correct the wise, they will be all the wiser. Insight There is a great difference between the person who learns from criticism and the person who refuses to accept correction. How we respond to criticism determines whether or not we grow in wisdom. Challenge The next time someone criticizes you, listen carefully to all that is said. You might learn something. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon John 12:21 We would see Jesus.Evermore the worldling's cry is, "Who will show us any good?" He seeks satisfaction in earthly comforts, enjoyments, and riches. But the quickened sinner knows of only one good. "O that I knew where I might find Him !" When he is truly awakened to feel his guilt, if you could pour the gold of India at his feet, he would say, "Take it away: I want to find Him." It is a blessed thing for a man, when he has brought his desires into a focus, so that they all centre in one object. When he has fifty different desires, his heart resembles a mere of stagnant water, spread out into a marsh, breeding miasma and pestilence; but when all his desires are brought into one channel, his heart becomes like a river of pure water, running swiftly to fertilize the fields. Happy is he who hath one desire, if that one desire be set on Christ, though it may not yet have been realized. If Jesus be a soul's desire, it is a blessed sign of divine work within. Such a man will never be content with mere ordinances. He will say, "I want Christ; I must have him--mere ordinances are of no use to me; I want himself; do not offer me these; you offer me the empty pitcher, while I am dying of thirst; give me water, or I die. Jesus is my soul's desire. I would see Jesus!" Is this thy condition, my reader, at this moment? Hast thou but one desire, and is that after Christ? Then thou art not far from the kingdom of heaven. Hast thou but one wish in thy heart, and that one wish that thou mayst be washed from all thy sins in Jesus' blood? Canst thou really say, "I would give all I have to be a Christian; I would give up everything I have and hope for, if I might but feel that I have an interest in Christ?" Then, despite all thy fears, be of good cheer, the Lord loveth thee, and thou shalt come out into daylight soon, and rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ makes men free. Daily Light on the Daily Path Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.Hosea 11:4 I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love, And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; And I bent down and fed them. John 12:32 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." John 1:36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" John 3:14,15 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; • so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. 1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
    |