JOB 37:1 - 39:30
GOD'S VOICE: Psa 50:3 says there is a storm surrounding the throne of God. To some, God's voice sounds like thunder. He controls the elements, frost, snow, lightning, rain, whirlwinds. Instead of attacking Job, Elihu speaks of the power of God.
GOD FINALLY SPEAKS: God NEVER explained Job's suffering. God NEVER defended Himself. God NEVER took sides in all the debates. God NEVER listed any sins to Job. God spoke out of the whirlwind: "Stand up, Job!" (God's first speech - Job 38:1 - 40:5) God spoke to Job alone. What Job wanted was either to know what he had done to deserve his suffering, or to be declared innocent. God's speech doesn't answer any of Job's questions! First He dealt with Elihu's words, letting him know that Elihu had bitten off more than he could chew!
BEFORE ADAM & EVE: Creation declares God's Greatness. God is Creator of the sea, of time, and is Master of the deep, light, darkness, snow, hair, lightning, constellations, clouds, and mist. God Created and protects animals, and will surely NOT fail Job. And none but the SOVEREIGN GOD could have created, known, led, guided, controlled all the forces of the universe. It was not more knowledge that Job needed, but more God.
RESPONSE: God gave "instinct" to the animals! Do humans have any of that, I wonder? When our hearts sink under the weight of discouragement or affliction, it is good to meditate on God's greatness. It puts things in perspective.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:13 - 5:10
Please see yesterday's blog.
"There's a lion in the street!" That's why I don't go out there. That's why I am still in the house laying on the couch, watching TV. Any excuse, huh? At least this is a good one.
RESPONSE: Whenever I give an excuse for something I don't want to do, I add, "and besides, there's a lion in the street."
JOB 34:1 - 36:33
"LISTEN UP, AND I WILL TEACH YOU WISDOM!" Elihu, the youngest, is losing it" because Job won't answer him back. Elihu believes that suffering comes to chasten and correct. That God is never wrong in what He does, and that Job was wrong in what he said about God causing his troubles. (Elihu had misinterpreted Job, guessed at Job's motives, and even misquoted him a few times.) (1) God is not and cannot be unjust. God can cut down the whole human race if He wants to! Therefore Job is in rebellion and needs to just submit and learn. "He (God) won't lay on man more than what's right." (2) God is not affected by man's behavior; He is God all by Himself. Since God is always fair, if He doesn't answer your prayers, it must be because your prayers are wrong. (3) "He that is perfect (Elihu) is with thee." If you are suffering, it is so God can show you your heart and teach you not to transgress. Suffering opens your ears to discipline. Job needs to return to the Lord! (4) Be sure to receive your correction in the right spirit! Don't be independent.
THE APPROACHING STORM: The noise of the storm announces the Presence of God. (Psa 50:3) The only light comes from God. The thunder and lightning should make us tremble.
RESPONSE: Elihu seems to be full of himself! He has a lot of information that he has still to live out. He has a depth of knowledge, but not much compassion. Job said that compassion is learned through suffering. I believe him. Once you experience the "dark night of the soul", or "the horror of great darkness" (Gen 15:12) with God, you cannot inflict pain on anyone else, even if they are guilty. Even Jacob can testify of the life-changing event of having God "smite" you (Gen 32:25 - "touched" is actually "smote", which is what knocked Job's house down! Job 1:19)
2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-12
GOD OF THIS WORLD: Not, the planet, but the TEMPORARY WORLD SYSTEMS run by the "world-spirit of antichrist". He is a RELIGIOUS SPIRIT - and rules over all religions except God's own. His master plan is to blind minds - to mess up our thinking so we can't see and understand the Gospel. The glory and power of the Gospel is the image of Jesus being formed in us who believe. WE DO NOT BELIEVE IN TWO GODS: ONE GOOD AND ONE EVIL. Satan only rules temporary world systems and he usurps those! We can redeem them back to God with our Kingdom influence. Satan is not God's enemy - he is OURS. Jesus ALREADY DEFEATED SATAN on the cross by His blood and His resurrection. God has no equals. He is God all by Himself. Doublemindedness is idolatry.
BUT.... even our afflictions result in glory! We are "cracked pots" - our flesh is broken down and destroyed so that the light of Jesus that is IN us, shines out. "We are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." One of the MOST EXCITING REVELATIONS IN THE SCRIPTURES. Affliction does not come to teach us something; but to destroy the FLESH! God isn't going to FIX US, He wants to KILL US! (our flesh, our self-life) In my severest trials is when Jesus is most exalted in my life. This is when the fullest measure of resurrection power is manifested and exerted. These afflictions produce bitterness if we do not submit to God's purposes.
RESPONSE: I knew it! V.15 says I am getting younger every day (on the inside)! Anything that I can see with my physical eye is TEMPORARY. I am not intended to SURVIVE my trials, but to be changed by them. I can know that I'm truly dead to self, when someone can throw dirt on me and I don't realize it. Dead people don't get offended.
PSALM 44:1-8
DELIVER ME FROM DEFEAT: I hate to lose. Losing is when my flesh overcomes my spirit and sprays itself all over the place (manifests itself) God is in the process of "driving out the heathen" in my heart - and sometimes one will get away and manifest itself! I can't trust in my sword to help me (willpower, determination, self-control, self-discipline, resolve, fortitude). I call on God for full deliverance!
PROVERBS 22:10-12
When the "scoffer" leaves, they take strife, quarreling and insults with them. When someone scorns God and God's Word, it is because they want you to believe them instead! That's why they breed arguments.
"Gracious speech" is speech full of comfort, encouragement and strengthening. It is someone who empowers others. Everyone wants to be around them.
God defeats the designs of the ones who argue against God.
RESPONSE: Giving in to my flesh is a DEFEAT, not a WIN! I feel awful afterwards. Trying harder doesn't work. My flesh is too big and too strong for me. I was saved by faith in God, and have to trust God to drive out the enemy. I make my boast in the Lord! His Name is higher than any other.
JOB 31:1 - 33:33
IF I TRUST IN ANYTHING other than GOD: If money made me happy, if the natural elements thrilled me more than God, if I were secretly tempted to lust, if I secretly wanted to avenge myself, if I covered my sins, or hid iniquity in my heart, if I refused to help someone, if I ever cheated anyone, then God should tell me. Job understands that his suffering was not the consequences of sin or disobedience, but by the WILL OF GOD. That God was developing his faith, that he would come forth as refined and pure gold.
MAD AT EVERYONE! Elihu is mad at Job because Job knows he is justified and righteous. He's mad at the first three friends because they couldn't hold up their end of the argument and they hadn't helped Job. Elihu is younger than the other three and younger than Job, too, so he waited his turn to speak. But, apparently, he thinks old men are not always wise, nor do they have understanding!
I JUST HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING! Elihu's main contention is that suffering is always CORRECTIVE. It teaches us something. Suffering chastens and is actually a work of grace that prepares us to serve others, as it develops compassion. Suffering actually comes to kill the flesh and wean us from independence from God. Yes, God humbles us, but Elihu doesn't need to add to it! There are times when God uses affliction to withdraw us from our own purposes and goals, and cut off the pride that gave me my own purpose, at the root. It is there that God reveals HIS will. Elihu is deeply taught in God's ways, but obviously had never experienced it, and so lacked compassion and patience. And so, in his immaturity and youth, he loses restraint and ceases to speak for God. When Job doesn't answer, Elihu tells him, "be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom."
GOD SPEAKS IN TWO WAYS: (1) In dreams, visions or inner instructions by the Holy Spirit to heart. (2) Through suffering and chastening with pain. The servant of God must learn to rejoice in the will of God, rather than the service of God.....and to glory in weakness as a condition for knowing the Divine strength and power in us.
RESPONSE: Elihu has good things to say. Some of it is true, and some is half-true, just not true about JOB. God said in Job 2:3, to Satan, " thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause." Added to that, Elihu was impatient and easily offended when Job didn't answer him. My mother would have called Elihu a "young whipper-snapper". He misquotes Job and reads things into Job's words that weren't intended. He thinks he knows Job's motives and what he was thinking. My, my! I have tried to talk with people like that! It's probably best to just let them talk until they are done. I think I understand why Job didn't answer him or even comment on what Elihu said. Elihu, the youngster, even thought he was speaking for God! Maybe this is what James 5:11 was referring to as "the patience of Job".
1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-18
LIFE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND EVERLASTING GLORY: "Ministers of a New Covenant" - The Gospel that exists in men, not in books. It is living and life-giving, and "of the Spirit". In fact, there is no "Spirit" in the old covenant at all! There was just DEATH and condemnation, based on what I do and don't do. Whereas the new Covenant makes alive and is based on His righteousness. Even though the old covenant ministered death, it still had a glory of its own, but that glory was PASSING. Our new Covenant has a glory that is PERMANENT.
MOSES HAS A SECRET: And some have NEVER discovered what Moses was hiding beneath that veil....that the Old Covenant was transitory and its glory was to be lost --- swallowed up --- in the New. Even though they read the OT, they still don't see behind the veil.
JOB 28:1 - 30:31
WISDOM & UNDERSTANDING: Job emphasizes the failure of the human mind to arrive at hidden wisdom and understanding. (28:1-12) Human research hasn't discovered it. (28:13-19) Human wealth can't purchase it. (28:20-28) God alone has wisdom and it's His gift. Wisdom is the ability to see all of life from God's point of view. It is the art of living successfully. Understanding is insight in how to apply wisdom. The Book of James tells us to ASK GOD for wisdom! Job's conclusion is that "the fear of the Lord is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding."
JOB IN THE FURNACE: Job lamented the loss of his relationship with God. He had known God in true intimacy and favor. He knew what it was to be clothed in righteousness. He was not boasting; this was the truth! And now, people who don't know God as well as he did, are making fun of him. God doesn't hear or answer when he prays. Job is stripped of everything, and he blames God: "Thou art become cruel to me; with Thy strong hand Thou opposest Thyself against me." Job did not know that God is closest to us when we are in the furnace!
RESPONSE: Man can find precious metals and stones in the earth, but wisdom is hidden. The ONLY way to acquire real wisdom and real understanding about Life is from God. Life's requirements are tough! We need discernment ever day, we need insight, power, correct judgment, and life skills just to get through a day successfully. I don't want to just take up space, waiting to die! For purposeful living, we must have wisdom and understanding. Only God knows the end from the beginning, and only His purposes will succeed. It is actually exciting to live by godly wisdom! I ask God for it every morning.
2 CORINTHIANS 2:12-17
DO I STINK? People are polarized when it comes to judging how Christians live. Once everyone knows we are born again, they don't just ignore us. No! They watch us. We are "living sacrifices", not victims of the world or the devil. When the fire comes, do you smell BITTER? Or do you smell SWEET? When we smell SWEET, the smoke from our lives suffocates unbelievers who want to gnash on us. In order to be a sweet-smelling barbeque, we must be a life dealt with by God. (We don't jump off the grill when it gets hot.)
RESPONSE: I probably lived the first 50 years of my life being bitter. I believed that if I didn't look out for myself, no one else would! I didn't really trust God to look after my interests, and didn't believe He even loved me (except as a requirement for being God). Bitter, bitter, bitter! And it spilled out on everyone around me. I was sarcastic, know-it-all, and arrogant. I held things against everyone, and was fault-finding and judgmental. Who did I hurt? Besides myself, I contaminated my children, and brought shame on the Name of the Lord.
I was put on that altar many times, and refused to burn! I made excuses, defended myself, justified my behavior, and did just about anything to preserve SELF! Everything was someone else's fault! What little that did burn, probably gave off a stench that offended and alienated non-believers who knew me. I'm not even sure how God started turning things around. I know that my eyes began to open as people in the church really loved me. I soaked myself in the Word of God, and allowed God to say what He needed to say to me. As things literally "dropped off", I clung to God as my only hope. He forced me to let go of some things, and other things left me without my knowing they were going. The biggest and greatest means of change is WORSHIP. As I gave praise and thanks to God, my heart LEARNED to fear Him, trust Him, cling to Him, believe Him, love Him. Yes! We have to instruct our own hearts. Mine was stubborn and arrogant and unbelieving. And yes, I was deceived about how bad it really was (Jer 17:9).
PSALM 42:1-11
This section of Psalm (chapters 42-72) is the "Exodus" section and deals with tribulation and deliverance. This Psalm was probably meditated on by Jonah in the belly of the whale (just for one example). He quoted 42:7 in Jonah 2:3. In the midst of trial, we LONG for God. The feeling of abandonment by God when He "hides His face" is a common one. It serves the purpose of drawing us DEEPER into God, reaching to get hold of Him again.
PROVERBS 22:7
"The borrower is servant to the lender." Ain't that the truth! My mortgage-holder just sold our loan to another bank. No one asked me! They just did it, and then let me know. This isn't the first time either!
RESPONSE: "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?” I ask myself those questions when I find myself getting upset about something. I have learned that feelings are just feelings! They don't mean a thing because they change frequently. So, I tell myself to "hope in God." Get your eyes back on God. See how good and how great He is.
JOB 23:1 - 27:23
WHERE IS GOD? The bitterest pain of all, in the time of testing, is the inability to discern God's Presence. I could pray and beg for mercy and help if I thought He would hear me. It is a test of faith - when we can't see Him in front of us, behind us, or at either side of us. No matter where we look, God just isn't there! BUT HE CAN SEE US! This is a test! Our ability to cling to God, stay faithful, hold fast. And when faith is tested in the fire of adversity and "abandonment", we come forth like pure GOLD, with selfish impurities flushed out. Not only that, but Job said that the fire of adversity had softened his heart. We can be hemmed in by darkness, but still know that God can see us perfectly.
WHY DOESN'T GOD JUDGE EVIL IN THE WORLD? Job would argue against anyone who thought God was not interested in the affairs of men. These "rebel against the Light" and so may even be in the Church! But someday they will be "taken away" (like in Noah's flood).
BILDAD #3: Job's friends are whipped and running out of fuel. Bildad still does not understand HOW a man can be just before God. Job MUST be wrong!
JOB'S DEFENSE: Job sarcastically dismissed Bildad's last speech as unhelpful and lacking authority. When people argue against God, it is usually because they want you to believe them instead. How many lives has Bildad changed? Bildad's arguments are just too stupid to deserve an answer.
CONTRAST TO THE GREATNESS AND GOODNESS OF GOD: "Hell is naked before Him..." "Destruction" is the Hebrew word "Abaddon" , who is the "Detroyer". He rules the locusts and is the symbol of barrenness and utter destruction. God also "suspended the earth upon nothing." (This was stated in an age when people thought the earth rested on the shoulders of Atlas). "By His Spirit He has beautified the heavens." That makes God the Creator and Ruler of hell, earth, and heaven.
WHAT WOULD JOB GAIN BY BEING A HYPOCRITE? It is NOT true that all suffering is the result of sin. However, it IS true that a disregard for God and God's laws has consequences in this life. Job made a decision that he would not JUSTIFY his friends' judgment by losing his integrity.
RESPONSE: James 5:10-11 tell us that it is Job's PATIENCE that we are to remember. This "patience" is NOT "long-suffering", but "ENDURANCE with constancy." Job never railed on his tormentors, though he was sarcastic at times. He never whined about all his losses. Not once, did he say that life wasn't fair! He clung to God and waited for his vindication. Job's greatest torment was that he couldn't see any signs that God was still with him. But, even so, he declared his faith that God was IN CHARGE. Which brings me to another question: Who was actually responsible for all Job's pain? There are some who believe that this event actually was spread out over a year! 365 days of being sick, feverish, alone but for a bitter wife and friends he could have done without - - - grieving inside for the loss of all his children, isn't sure he should pray because obviously God isn't there! I find it amazing that when we feel abandoned, we are actually the center of attention from God and don't know it! I had a pastor once who called the suffering of Job, a "left-handed compliment". GOD WAS SHOWING HIM OFF TO THE HEAVENLIES! "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man." (Job 1:8)
2 CORINTHIANS 1:12 - 2:11
The book appears to cover several topics, but that is because Paul is showing us "the God of ALL comfort". God is all-sufficient, all-powerful, and has all authority. In any situation, God is enough.
"YES" AND "NO": God does not make promises and then break them. We shouldn't either, even if it is inconvenient to keep them! After all, the Gospel is ONE GRAND AFFIRMATION. It is God's Truth that stands firm without inconsistencies or ambiguities. The Gospel can withstand study, investigation, all doubts, and any questions we might have. Jesus is the fulfillment of all that God has promised. The goodness and greatness of God is an established fact that will never waver.
"THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT": Long-term proof of the affirmation of God's promises is the indwelling Spirit of God. His presence in us is proof that we will also "inherit" all the rest of God's promises. The Holy Spirit marks us out as belonging to God - puts His seal on us - it is like an engagement ring, proof of the coming marriage and intimacy. The Spirit Himself IS our "earnest" - down payment - the guarantee of full payment. Payment "in full" for what? That we will, IN PRACTICE, reflect the image of Jesus as the Holy Spirit enacts and empowers all the promises in us of giving us His joy, His endurance, His faith, His righteousness, His compassion, etc. etc.
DISCIPLINE THAT LEADS TO REPENTANCE: Punishment that does not correct and restore (in the church) is wrong. NOT to discipline at all is just as wrong, because it doesn't protect the church from scandal and it does a disservice to the guilty party. Church discipline must be done with love and "in the presence of Christ". A scandal in the church gives the devil opportunity to discredit Jesus Christ (It is not just unforgiveness that gives opportunity to the devil.). The devil finds his opportunity in the incompetence of the church to deal with immorality in its midst in a redemptive way. The devil takes opportunity through legalism and unloving Pharisaism, or through despair or even self-pity over being caught in sin. And, too, the devil can use this to strain relationships in the church and start dissensions.
RESPONSE: When I first received the Holy Spirit, I was so joyful and excited that I assumed that I had gotten all there is to get! I didn't know that that was just a "down payment"! I also didn't know that the Holy Spirit had declared war on my flesh. Any other territory that the Spirit of God has taken in my life, was taken at spearpoint. My flesh is stubborn, rude, territorial, stupid, and resistant - and the first few years were pretty miserable. But, He has also given me His overwhelming joy, His wonderul grace, His sufficiency and fullness, His energy, His strength, His compassion, His mercy, His kindness - - - and I could go on and on. And I know that He will never run out of more and more.
PSALM 41:1-13
If I Care for the poor:
1. "The Lord will deliver me in the time of trouble."
2. The Lord will preserve me, "that he faint not in his troubles."
3. The Lord will keep me alive. Prolong my life and days.
4. "I shall be blessed upon earth: " God shall enrich me.
5. I shall not be delivered unto the will of my enemies,-never to their full desires, though often into their hands.
6. "The Lord will strengthen me upon a bed of languishing," God will overturn my bed and dump me out!
PROVERBS 22:5-6
A perverse man brings "thorns and thistles" (adversity) on himself.
By prayer and observation, we first understand the "bent" of the child - his temperament, his destiny, his calling. Other than that, these are PROVERBS, and that means these are probabilities, not promises. The Bible is full of godly men whose children were awful!
RESPONSE: Whenever I get sick, I think about God dumping me out of bed. I don't think I'd like that.
JOB 20:1 - 22:30
ZOPHAR: "I JUST HAVE TO SAY THIS!" The triumph of the wicked and of hypocrites is short-lived! They cannot keep the fruit of their labors. They have no rest, and even the earth has rejected them. The portion of the wicked is all only in this life, and yours is gone already! Job, you must be a wicked hypocrite.
JOB'S REPLY: Although the wicked shall suffer in the end, even the wicked often prosper in this life! Even though they are godless, it was God Who gave them all they have! The fact is, we can't trace the ways of God. Some people never suffer from anything! Some are wicked and some are not. Job is neither stubborn nor arrogant - he is honest and tenacious! His body is sick and his mind is broken, but his faith in God is firm.
ELIPHAZ - #3: This is a good man without malice, but it never occurs to him that a good man would suffer. The very idea undermines his theology. So he makes a last emotional appeal to Job to repent for his wickedness, especially his mistreatment of the poor. Without proof, Eliphaz even lists the "crimes" he believes Job to have committed and how he has grieved the Lord. 22:21-30 are eloquent and even correct - but not about Job's situation.
RESPONSE: Just in passing, I would like to explain 22:27-28 about "vows". A vow here is a commitment made with God that in exchange for a specific answer to prayer, we will pay a specific offering. For example, if God heals a broken arm, we will give $50/month above the tithe for 6 months. Or that we will serve Him by cleaning the church for a year. THEN....we can "decree a thing and it shall be established." Don't isolate verse 28 and try to decree something you want, without the prayer and the vow payment!
2 CORINTHIANS 1:1-11
WHAT THE BOOK IS ALL ABOUT: GRACE AND PEACE: Grace is the sum of all God gives us as believers: forgiveness, joy, wisdom, power, etc. Peace is the result of having God's grace. It is a heart that is resting, confident in God's provision. This is a good greeting, because this letter tells us ALL ABOUT the God of all Comfort and Victory in the Midst of our Difficulties. Paul uses himself as the example for all of us, of a man delivered (rescued) and given the ministry of reconciliation.
THE SECRET OF INNER PEACE: "GOD OF ALL COMFORT": Suffering for Jesus abounds, but so does His comfort. His strength is equal to the pressure. (1) Suffering is an opportunity to experience the strengthening of God. (2) My example of patient endurance under pressure brings encouragement and comfort to someone else. (3) Suffering breaks the stubborn spirit of self-will and independence in us, and forces us to rely on God. (4) Suffering shows us that we are not individuals living all alone in life, but are members of a Body, and we need each other.
HAS DELIVERED, DOES DELIVER, WILL YET DELIVER: (1:10) This is rescue in three dimensions: spirit and soul and body (1 Thess 5:23) One-time event: saved spirit (raised it from the dead!). Ongoing work: saved soul, sanctification. And future event: saved immortal body!
RESPONSE: Paul said in Phil 3:8 that he had lost everything for the sake of the Gospel, and in Hebrews, those Christians had been "spoiled" of their goods (Heb 10:34). We read of the suffering of Christians in other countries, and it's hard to relate to it in the US. We have so much. But loss of goods isn't the only way that Christians can suffer for Jesus. Ridicule and exclusion is another way we suffer. Sometimes it is the death of a loved one, rejection by a family member or friend, danger comng close to home, unfair treatment of any kind. It is in the bottom of the pit where we learn to really cry out for God to help us. We also learn to love the Body as people come near to guide us along.
I was actually dying of disease about 30 years ago and a church friend named "June" came and prayed every day at the hospital. I called her any time I was conscious enough and wept because I wanted to live, and she would reassure me of what God said, and instruct my heart to trust God. I depended on her to carry me and keep me on the right path because I was too sick and too weak to fight for myself. It was a great illustration of "Body-life" in Jesus. BUT, I also learned about the strengthening of God in my body and in my mind during those days. What I did not realize was that, in the church, there were people who were watching to see what happened to me! It encouraged their faith to see me return to health. I think the biggest thing I learned was that I need to depend on God for everything. I had no control over my life, my family, my home, or anything else. I had to trust God and trust the Body of Christ. Stubbornness and self-will would have destroyed me at a time like that.
PSALM 40:11-17
"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Rom 8:18) This kind of suffering is a "painful experience". It could be emotional, physical, inner turmoil, loss, betrayal, anything. God wants us to know Him in the context of daily life, whatever it may be. The times of suffering force us to call out to God, depending on Him for deliverance - and for endurance. When we are surrounded by evil, God's "loving-kindness and Truth" preserve us. God's "loving-kindness" in the original language is actually from the word for "womb" and it is the action of the mother's womb on the fetus to cherish, nourish and protect it. And God's "Truth" in the original language is the word "Amen". It refers to constancy, faithfulness, unchangeableness, sincerity as opposed to hypocrisy. We are preserved in time of trouble because God never changes and He has compassion and pity on us.
PROVERBS 22:2-4
You've heard it before: the ground is level at the foot of the Cross, but somehow God made some rich and some poor - were all men created "equal" after all?
A "prudent man" - a cautious and careful one, sees evil for what it is and knows enough to run from it (or hide). The "simple" - easily led, just keep going right into it, believing the flattery and not believing the warnings, and so they have to take their punishment.
A broken self-will puts us in line for riches, honor and Life with a "capital-L".
RESPONSE: I've had jobs where I felt surrounded by evil. Dishonesty, lying, dirty stories, after-work drinking and debauchery, snickering behind people's backs - it was all there, and I felt "excluded" and singled out for ridicule. I've also been through terrible heartache, to where I thought my heart would explode right out of my chest. I couldn't talk to anyone because of the circumstances at the time. All I had was Jesus, and I didn't know much about how to stay connected with Him until I could stand the pain. When I was tempted to ask God where He was, why didn't He help me, wasn't there anything He could do? - - - my husband would answer like Peter and say, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6:68) God had me cornered, and I was forced to learn about drawing Life from Him alone. Our goal is not to "survive" our troubles, but to be CHANGED by them.
JOB 16:1 - 19:29
THE ANSWER TO INSINUATIONS: Job insists that he is not guilty, and that God can do what He pleases. And right now, God is acting like Job's enemy. Job's friends are "miserable comforters". If they were to trade places with him, Job would try to encourage, comfort and strengthen them.
JOB 12:1 - 15:35
ELIPHAZ (EMOTIONAL RESPONSE): He called Job a hypocrite and believed that all suffering is brought on by hidden sin in our lives. SOME suffering IS brought on by hidden sin in our lives (Psa 32:3-4) - but this wasn't true in Job's case.
BILDAD (INTELLECTUAL OR LOGICAL RESPONSE): He said Job was a "wind-bag"! That good Bible teaching says "IF you were pure and upright...." you wouldn't be in this condition. "God will not cast away a perfect man." Therefore, if Job would just turn to God, all would be well again.
ZOPHAR'S (THE WILL): He told Job that his punishment is actually less than he deserved! If Job would just repent, he would be restored to the point where he wouldn't even remember all this torment!
ANSWERING OUR CRITICS: "I am the laughingstock of my friends", but I know God better than you do! I am in His hands, as is every living thing. God holds all wisdom and understanding and all power over the righteous AND the wicked. You say you are speaking for God, but you malign Him and are deceivers. If you were all that smart, you would just shut up because you don't know what you are talking about!
GOD IS GOOD: Job is fighting for his faith, so he reaffirms his trust in God, "though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." He is my only salvation. God, just (1) don't withdraw Your presence from me; and (2) don't terrorize me. My life is so short compared to eternity, so God should feel sorry for me. IF I have sinned, then tell me what I've done! Must I just wait for death to take me?
HERE WE GO AGAIN: ELIPHAZ: He believes Job is conceited and arrogant, and so now Eliphaz is mad! It is the wicked that suffer! The way Job talks PROVES his iniquity. Eliphaz believes that man is so corrupt and filthy that he COULD NEVER be righteous before God (a lie). Eliphaz's reaction shows that Job's experience is a real threat to our preconceived religious ideas.
RESPONSE: I believe that the story of Job shows us that often we don't know what we're talking about! I had a pastor once who instructed us that when we pray with people at the altar, pray ABOUT their condition before we pray FOR them. Sometimes there is a psychological reason for their sickness that needs to be dealt with first. This is what Job's friends are assuming without asking Job. So far, they haven't offered any comfort! Let this be a lesson for us! If someone is already suffering, at least give them some comfort before you tear them apart!
1 CORINTHIANS 15:29-58
For most of this chapter, please see yesterday's blog.
TWO MEN: Adam and Jesus. We are "in Adam" or "in Christ". There is nothing else. Immature believers (carnal or fleshly) need to know that when they were "in Adam", they were dying, full of darkness and confusion. Any self-knowledge they had came from the Light of God (Isa 60:3; Psa 43:3). "In Adam", our flesh was treacherous to God. So after we are born again, we become people of the Spirit, "in Christ". The Holy Spirit is the antidote to overcome the poison of sin and death (Rom 8:11). Anything of the Adamic nature still working in me will make me die. Jesus is the Head of a NEW RACE - a spiritual people. We must live by the Spirit because "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." (NOW)
WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED: The real question is "when?" In fact, we MUST BE CHANGED. We "inherit" the Kingdom of God at the new birth (see the Sermon on the Mount). If "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (and it can't), then I MUST be changed to a spiritual person if I want to approach God. That is what 1 Corinthians is all about. How that change takes place. That just as seeds get sown into the ground and die, and then "resurrect" to a new plant --- so do we. "In the twinkling of an eye" is when the light of revelation comes, in a flash, and the Holy Spirit begins His work in us. Our New Birth is actually a metaphor for the resurrection. Our BODIES are waiting for their resurrection also. The bodily resurrection of mankind is future and is as sure as Jesus' own resurrection.
RESPONSE: Much of what we call "life", is actually death. It belongs to Adam's race, not Christ's. Nothing is more loathsome than a dead body, but the saints, when they rise, will be changed to glorious and spiritual bodies, fit for heaven. Sin is what gives death all its hurtful power. The law is not evil, but it empowers sin because, in our flesh, we cannot obey the law or meet its demands. Jesus saved us spirit and soul and body!
PSALM 39:1-13
"EVERY MAN IN HIS BEST STATE IS VANITY": Life that is full of selfishness is EMPTY. Natural man has an EMPTY life that leads to hopeless despair. The greatest emptiness is to live life for this world alone. "Vanity" means that it lacks the means to satisfy. Jer 2:5 says that when we "go after" vain things, we become vain or worthless ourselves. All false gods destroy their worshippers because you take on the characteristics of what yoy worship or put first.
PROVERBS 21:30-31
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan, no horse that can succeed against the Lord. Politicians THINK they are in charge of the universe, but NOT SO! We THINK we "got the victory" in a given situation, but it was actually God's doing!
RESPONSE: I don't know how people can face life without Jesus! Such loneliness. Such powerlessness. Such darkness of mind and soul. Such fear. I don't even like to think about it.
"There's a lion in the street!" That's why I don't go out there. That's why I am still in the house laying on the couch, watching TV. Any excuse, huh? At least this is a good one. 
