Bible League: Living His Word Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land."— Job 1:9-10 ESV Satan didn't believe that Job's motives were pure. He didn't believe that Job feared and served God because he loved God, but because God had given him so much. After all, Job was one of the richest men in the East. From Satan's point of view, the only reason why Job feared and served God was because there was something in it for him. In effect, Satan was saying that Job was a fair-weather servant, that Job's fear and service were superficial and conditional. Satan thought that all it would take to get Job to curse God to His face would be to give him a test by sending some adversity his way (Job 1:11). It's not that hard to see why Satan would believe this, because it's so often true. For many people, all it takes is a few trials, troubles, or tribulations to get them to give up on God. Their fear and service of God truly is weak and superficial. Job, as it became clear, was not like that at all. He passed the test. Satan was proven wrong. Although he complained to God about how he was being treated, he never gave up on God. When his wife, whose own fear and service were conditional, urged him to curse God and die, he said, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips" (Job 2:9-10). Job not only passed the test, he became the hero of every believer that has trouble in life. Today, you may be going through some Job-like trials and troubles. Today, Satan may be trying to prove that your fear and service of God is conditional. Stand firm and show him that your faith is genuine. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading1 Kings 3, 4, 5 1 Kings 3 -- Solomon Asks for Wisdom NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Kings 4 -- Solomon's Officials, Daily Provision, and Wisdom NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Kings 5 -- Preparations for the Temple NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 23:1-26 Luke 23 -- Jesus before Pilate and Herod; Jesus' Crucifixion and Burial NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. Insight Waiting for perfect conditions will mean inactivity. This practical insight is especially applicable to our spiritual life. If we wait for the perfect time and place for personal Bible reading, we will never begin. If we wait for a perfect church, we will never join. If we wait for the perfect ministry, we will never serve. Challenge Take steps now to grow spiritually. Don't wait for conditions that may never exist. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world.It is a sweet and blessed event which will occur to all believers in God's own time--the going home to be with Jesus. In a few more years the Lord's soldiers, who are now fighting "the good fight of faith" will have done with conflict, and have entered into the joy of their Lord. But although Christ prays that his people may eventually be with him where he is, he does not ask that they may be taken at once away from this world to heaven. He wishes them to stay here. Yet how frequently does the wearied pilgrim put up the prayer, "O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest;" but Christ does not pray like that, he leaves us in his Father's hands, until, like shocks of corn fully ripe, we shall each be gathered into our Master's garner. Jesus does not plead for our instant removal by death, for to abide in the flesh is needful for others if not profitable for ourselves. He asks that we may be kept from evil, but he never asks for us to be admitted to the inheritance in glory till we are of full age. Christians often want to die when they have any trouble. Ask them why, and they tell you, "Because we would be with the Lord." We fear it is not so much because they are longing to be with the Lord, as because they desire to get rid of their troubles; else they would feel the same wish to die at other times when not under the pressure of trial. They want to go home, not so much for the Saviour's company, as to be at rest. Now it is quite right to desire to depart if we can do it in the same spirit that Paul did, because to be with Christ is far better, but the wish to escape from trouble is a selfish one. Rather let your care and wish be to glorify God by your life here as long as he pleases, even though it be in the midst of toil, and conflict, and suffering, and leave him to say when "it is enough." Daily Light on the Daily Path Genesis 28:16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Exodus 33:14 And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." Psalm 139:7,8 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? • If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. Jeremiah 23:23,24 "Am I a God who is near," declares the LORD, "And not a God far off? • "Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?" declares the LORD. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" declares the LORD. 1 Kings 8:27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built! Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite. 2 Corinthians 6:16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 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