Job 29
I open the refrigerator door looking for a snack. Almost instantly I have two pairs of dark brown eyes are fixed upon my every move. My dogs know that if I am not seated at the table and that if I have food in my hand, then they might get something tasty to eat. I have their undivided attention as long as I have some food in my hand. They are in ecstasy as I give them the tasty morsels that I have retrieved from the fridge!
There is a season and a time for everything in experiencing the glory of God. There are times when it seems the good pleasure of God invades everything that we do. Job remembers those times in this chapter. He longs for them again. He remembers the joy of being with his family. He remembers the time when his livestock were abundant. Or we might say today, when the bank account was overflowing and it seemed that we could not be overdrawn. There were times when he was among the movers and shakers of this world. He called the shots. He remembered times when God gave him the ability to do good to those who needed help. He drank in the feeling of self-satisfaction because he was valuable to other people. He remembered a time when his advice was sought out because he was ‘successful’. Surely, a ‘successful’ person could give wise counsel. What a feeling that gives to know that you possess the wisdom that helps other people, if they do it. It must have been awfully satisfying to Job.
But what happens when we begin to believe that somehow we are the ones responsible for the good things that are happening around us? It diminishes the glory of God around us for we begin to take the credit. It is indeed a wondrous season. It is a season full of joy, but it is the season when we are in the most danger for God will move us from that season in order to teach us the source of those good things. He does so to teach us to seek Him and not the things in His hand. His glory is found beyond the good things in His hand. When He disposes of the things in His hand, will we remain fixed upon His glory? That is what is happening to Job. As he remembers the past, he longs for those things that he also experienced that came as he experienced the good things from God’s hand. Lord, thank you for the good things that I find in Your hand, but help me to look beyond them in order to gaze into the glory of Your eyes. May your glory be that by which I gain my ecstasy! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
February 25, 2011
Job 25-26
Bildad uses the glory of God to urge Job to repent. He states a few obvious things about God’s glory hoping they will motivate Job to admit his sin and cause him to turn from it. The problem is that in this context, Job’s adverse circumstances are not the judgment as a result of a specific sin that Job has done. How can you change your mind about sin that you have not committed? God does not require a false repentance of us. He does not ask us to sign some blanket confession statement that absolves us of all sin. That is not repentance.
True repentance can only come as a result of the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. He said, “of sin, because they do not believe in Me.” Had Job not been trusting in God? Was he therefore, experiencing the judgment of God? Not in this instance. What would be the standard of righteousness, by which he would be called to change his mind? When Jesus was on the earth, the standard of righteousness was visible. It was embodied in His own life. We could have simply called upon Him when there was any question. But He does not dwell upon the earth in physical form. How can we know what righteousness is? Only the Spirit of God can bring conviction as His word is spoken or read through us. That is why faith comes by hearing of the word. Then when the Spirit brings conviction of sin and righteousness, judgment becomes obvious to the sinner under conviction. If then the sinner will change his mind concerning sin, then he can receive the fullness of God’s forgiveness. He can choose to embrace Jesus fully for the forgiveness of sins and the enablement to live in righteousness.
While Job did not have this complete New Testament understanding of repentance and faith, He did trust God for the forgiveness of his sin and the power to live a godly life. He was not suffering because of specific sin that he had committed. He was suffering because he was born in and participated in a fallen world. As the most righteous man on the face of this world, he was participating in a cosmic struggle to see if the glory of God was worth suffering for. Satan had challenged God on the value of God’s glory to Job. And how does Job respond:
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?
We cannot completely understand His power, but we can change our minds about our sin and choose to obey Him. It then becomes His power to change our sinful lives. Do I understand that? Not completely. But what I do understand of Him, I will cling to Him and let His power flow through me. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Bildad uses the glory of God to urge Job to repent. He states a few obvious things about God’s glory hoping they will motivate Job to admit his sin and cause him to turn from it. The problem is that in this context, Job’s adverse circumstances are not the judgment as a result of a specific sin that Job has done. How can you change your mind about sin that you have not committed? God does not require a false repentance of us. He does not ask us to sign some blanket confession statement that absolves us of all sin. That is not repentance.
True repentance can only come as a result of the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. He said, “of sin, because they do not believe in Me.” Had Job not been trusting in God? Was he therefore, experiencing the judgment of God? Not in this instance. What would be the standard of righteousness, by which he would be called to change his mind? When Jesus was on the earth, the standard of righteousness was visible. It was embodied in His own life. We could have simply called upon Him when there was any question. But He does not dwell upon the earth in physical form. How can we know what righteousness is? Only the Spirit of God can bring conviction as His word is spoken or read through us. That is why faith comes by hearing of the word. Then when the Spirit brings conviction of sin and righteousness, judgment becomes obvious to the sinner under conviction. If then the sinner will change his mind concerning sin, then he can receive the fullness of God’s forgiveness. He can choose to embrace Jesus fully for the forgiveness of sins and the enablement to live in righteousness.
While Job did not have this complete New Testament understanding of repentance and faith, He did trust God for the forgiveness of his sin and the power to live a godly life. He was not suffering because of specific sin that he had committed. He was suffering because he was born in and participated in a fallen world. As the most righteous man on the face of this world, he was participating in a cosmic struggle to see if the glory of God was worth suffering for. Satan had challenged God on the value of God’s glory to Job. And how does Job respond:
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?
We cannot completely understand His power, but we can change our minds about our sin and choose to obey Him. It then becomes His power to change our sinful lives. Do I understand that? Not completely. But what I do understand of Him, I will cling to Him and let His power flow through me. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Thursday, February 24, 2011
February 24, 2011
Job 24
Job moves the hide and seek with God from an individual basis to a corporate basis. “Look around,” he says, “Is justice accomplished in the land? No! The wicked get away with all kinds of immorality!” Land thieves, rustlers, abusers of the poor, kidnappers, murderers, adulterers and robbers are all getting away with their immorality! He leaves us feeling that there is no justice in the world. But verses 22-24 reveal that this life is not where justice is necessarily meted out. Like heads of grain we all wither and die, just and unjust alike. In the words of the title of R.G. Lee’s famous sermon, there is a “Payday Someday.” He dares his three friends to prove him wrong. And thus begins the last round of exchanges with his three so-called comforters.
So where is the glory of God in this? God is just. We will display His glory in one way or another. We shall be either a display of his justice at the final judgment at the Great White Throne, or we shall be a display of His mercy and grace both now and at the judgment seat of Christ. Interestingly enough, He gives us the choice of entering into either. Lord, I thank you for your mercy that I have found in your Son the Lord Jesus Christ! I choose to enter into the enablement of your grace so that you may display our glory in me both now and at the judgment seat of Christ! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Job moves the hide and seek with God from an individual basis to a corporate basis. “Look around,” he says, “Is justice accomplished in the land? No! The wicked get away with all kinds of immorality!” Land thieves, rustlers, abusers of the poor, kidnappers, murderers, adulterers and robbers are all getting away with their immorality! He leaves us feeling that there is no justice in the world. But verses 22-24 reveal that this life is not where justice is necessarily meted out. Like heads of grain we all wither and die, just and unjust alike. In the words of the title of R.G. Lee’s famous sermon, there is a “Payday Someday.” He dares his three friends to prove him wrong. And thus begins the last round of exchanges with his three so-called comforters.
So where is the glory of God in this? God is just. We will display His glory in one way or another. We shall be either a display of his justice at the final judgment at the Great White Throne, or we shall be a display of His mercy and grace both now and at the judgment seat of Christ. Interestingly enough, He gives us the choice of entering into either. Lord, I thank you for your mercy that I have found in your Son the Lord Jesus Christ! I choose to enter into the enablement of your grace so that you may display our glory in me both now and at the judgment seat of Christ! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
February 23, 2011
Job 23
My youngest son and his friend love to play hide and seek in our house. I think that they are beginning to get close to the age where hide and seek indoors is not going to be much fun any longer. Their powers of observation are getting much better, and the time that it takes to find the hider is getting much shorter. I suspect that finding the hider will soon become so simple that it won’t be much fun anymore. Hide and seek can be fun when you are successful. It gets really frustrating if you are not successful or if there is no challenge.
Job feels like God is hiding from him. I should think that all of us feel like that at some time or another. In a very real sense God is playing hide and seek with us. Only, it is not necessarily a game. We are commanded often in Scripture to seek Him. We are given the promise that if we seek, we will find. But He puts one basic stipulation in our seeking. We must seek Him with all of our heart. For someone with a crooked deceitful heart like mine, that is very difficult to do. Often my heart does not want to be made well.
For someone Who is omnipresent, sometimes He is surely hard to find. If He is omnipresent, shouldn’t He be easily found? If His glory is the most important thing in the Universe, should not He be easily found? The mere fact that He is hard to find indicates that obviously the answer is no. That begs the question, “Why is He hard to find?” Maybe He uses the pursuit to change us. Perhaps without being changed, we end up being terrified in the hands of an angry God. Perhaps by being changed we end up being embraced in the arms of a loving Father. So it is all about seeking His glory, and in the process we are changed so that we may enjoy His glory more fully. Lord change my heart that I might find you and be ever delighting in Your own glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
My youngest son and his friend love to play hide and seek in our house. I think that they are beginning to get close to the age where hide and seek indoors is not going to be much fun any longer. Their powers of observation are getting much better, and the time that it takes to find the hider is getting much shorter. I suspect that finding the hider will soon become so simple that it won’t be much fun anymore. Hide and seek can be fun when you are successful. It gets really frustrating if you are not successful or if there is no challenge.
Job feels like God is hiding from him. I should think that all of us feel like that at some time or another. In a very real sense God is playing hide and seek with us. Only, it is not necessarily a game. We are commanded often in Scripture to seek Him. We are given the promise that if we seek, we will find. But He puts one basic stipulation in our seeking. We must seek Him with all of our heart. For someone with a crooked deceitful heart like mine, that is very difficult to do. Often my heart does not want to be made well.
For someone Who is omnipresent, sometimes He is surely hard to find. If He is omnipresent, shouldn’t He be easily found? If His glory is the most important thing in the Universe, should not He be easily found? The mere fact that He is hard to find indicates that obviously the answer is no. That begs the question, “Why is He hard to find?” Maybe He uses the pursuit to change us. Perhaps without being changed, we end up being terrified in the hands of an angry God. Perhaps by being changed we end up being embraced in the arms of a loving Father. So it is all about seeking His glory, and in the process we are changed so that we may enjoy His glory more fully. Lord change my heart that I might find you and be ever delighting in Your own glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
February 22, 2011
ob 22
You know, I can’t get my mind around how large the earth is. Last summer I flew over the polar icecap to Mongolia. It took slightly less than 12 hours of non-stop flight from Beijing to Chicago. Since it is a 12 hour time zone difference, I actually arrived a few minutes earlier in Chicago than was when I left in Beijing. As we flew we were at an altitude that was so high that very few land masses were distinguishable to me. Were it not for the computerized map on the screen in front of me, I would have had no idea where I was or how large the earth was beneath me. It really makes one feel insignificant to realize how small on is in comparison to the earth. Yet the earth is just a sub-microscopic particle in relation to the universe.
Consider the largest found structures in the universe. They are “giant, three-dimensional filaments of galaxies extending across 200 million light-years of space. . . They are the largest found structures to date. . . They are studded with more than 30 large concentrations of gas, each up to ten times as massive as our own galaxy.” http://www.universetoday.com/399/the-largest-structure-in-the-universe/ (accessed 2/22/2011). Does that make you feel small? I don’t know, I still can’t get my mind around how big the earth is. That description just kind of buries me.
Consider how many stars are in the Universe. Think about this information that I collected from
http://www.universetoday.com/24328/how-many-stars/ (2/22/2011):
Almost all the stars in the Universe are collected together into galaxies. They can be small dwarf galaxies, with just 10 million or so stars, or they can be monstrous irregular galaxies with 10 trillion stars or more. Our own Milky Way galaxy seems to contain about 200 billion stars; and we’re actually about average number of stars.
So an average galaxy contains between 1011 and 1012 stars. In other words, galaxies, on average have between 100 billion and 1 trillion numbers of stars.
Now, how many galaxies are there? Astronomers estimate that there are approximately 100 billion to 1 trillion galaxies in the Universe. So if you multiply those two numbers together, you get between 1022 and 1024 stars in the Universe. How many stars? There are between 10 sextillion and 1 septillion stars in the Universe. That’s a large number of stars.
I think I have some kind of concept of one million. I used to live in Portland, Oregon which had a metro area population of roughly one million. I can kind of get my mind around that number; although, it is a big enough number that I don’t really want to. So when you tell me that a dwarf galaxy has just 10 million stars, I kind of lose it. Then to find out that just the number of galaxies is between 100 billion and 1 trillion, I cannot fathom it. Then to tell me that the number of stars in the Universe is a number that has about 24 zeroes following it, I am lost.
Eliphaz responds to Job:
12 God is so great—higher than the heavens,
higher than the farthest stars.
13 But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing!
How can he judge through the thick darkness?
14 For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us.
He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.
In the vastnesss of time and space, it is easy to think that God cannot see through the darkness to my little world. Eliphaz is correct. God is higher than the heavens—higher than the farthest stars. Could He possibly see me? The answer is an unequivocal, “Yes! He can!” As I think on the vastness of the universe, I remember that God created it. If He created it then He must be greater than it! He did not create something out of nothing that He cannot control! In order to control it, He must be able to come down to the tiniest microscopic unit. (Hmm. . . Do tachyons exist? Well now, there is a big can of worms.) Anyway, Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power. The doctrine of the omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience of God requires that He can and does actively see me, and yet at the same time, He sees every point in the universe with equal clarity! Lord God, how awesome You are!
So why is Eliphaz wrong? Eliphaz assumed that he could see even as the infinite God could see. He assumed that since this infinite God could see all that Job was and had done, then Job must have done some specific sin, which this infinite God had seen and for which He was now punishing Job. Eliphaz assumed too much. He thought too little of God and too much of Himself. Lord, keep me from that presumptuous sin! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
You know, I can’t get my mind around how large the earth is. Last summer I flew over the polar icecap to Mongolia. It took slightly less than 12 hours of non-stop flight from Beijing to Chicago. Since it is a 12 hour time zone difference, I actually arrived a few minutes earlier in Chicago than was when I left in Beijing. As we flew we were at an altitude that was so high that very few land masses were distinguishable to me. Were it not for the computerized map on the screen in front of me, I would have had no idea where I was or how large the earth was beneath me. It really makes one feel insignificant to realize how small on is in comparison to the earth. Yet the earth is just a sub-microscopic particle in relation to the universe.
Consider the largest found structures in the universe. They are “giant, three-dimensional filaments of galaxies extending across 200 million light-years of space. . . They are the largest found structures to date. . . They are studded with more than 30 large concentrations of gas, each up to ten times as massive as our own galaxy.” http://www.universetoday.com/399/the-largest-structure-in-the-universe/ (accessed 2/22/2011). Does that make you feel small? I don’t know, I still can’t get my mind around how big the earth is. That description just kind of buries me.
Consider how many stars are in the Universe. Think about this information that I collected from
http://www.universetoday.com/24328/how-many-stars/ (2/22/2011):
Almost all the stars in the Universe are collected together into galaxies. They can be small dwarf galaxies, with just 10 million or so stars, or they can be monstrous irregular galaxies with 10 trillion stars or more. Our own Milky Way galaxy seems to contain about 200 billion stars; and we’re actually about average number of stars.
So an average galaxy contains between 1011 and 1012 stars. In other words, galaxies, on average have between 100 billion and 1 trillion numbers of stars.
Now, how many galaxies are there? Astronomers estimate that there are approximately 100 billion to 1 trillion galaxies in the Universe. So if you multiply those two numbers together, you get between 1022 and 1024 stars in the Universe. How many stars? There are between 10 sextillion and 1 septillion stars in the Universe. That’s a large number of stars.
I think I have some kind of concept of one million. I used to live in Portland, Oregon which had a metro area population of roughly one million. I can kind of get my mind around that number; although, it is a big enough number that I don’t really want to. So when you tell me that a dwarf galaxy has just 10 million stars, I kind of lose it. Then to find out that just the number of galaxies is between 100 billion and 1 trillion, I cannot fathom it. Then to tell me that the number of stars in the Universe is a number that has about 24 zeroes following it, I am lost.
Eliphaz responds to Job:
12 God is so great—higher than the heavens,
higher than the farthest stars.
13 But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing!
How can he judge through the thick darkness?
14 For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us.
He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.
In the vastnesss of time and space, it is easy to think that God cannot see through the darkness to my little world. Eliphaz is correct. God is higher than the heavens—higher than the farthest stars. Could He possibly see me? The answer is an unequivocal, “Yes! He can!” As I think on the vastness of the universe, I remember that God created it. If He created it then He must be greater than it! He did not create something out of nothing that He cannot control! In order to control it, He must be able to come down to the tiniest microscopic unit. (Hmm. . . Do tachyons exist? Well now, there is a big can of worms.) Anyway, Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power. The doctrine of the omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience of God requires that He can and does actively see me, and yet at the same time, He sees every point in the universe with equal clarity! Lord God, how awesome You are!
So why is Eliphaz wrong? Eliphaz assumed that he could see even as the infinite God could see. He assumed that since this infinite God could see all that Job was and had done, then Job must have done some specific sin, which this infinite God had seen and for which He was now punishing Job. Eliphaz assumed too much. He thought too little of God and too much of Himself. Lord, keep me from that presumptuous sin! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Monday, February 21, 2011
February 21, 2011
Job 21
From 1985-1994 there was a TV series called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. I really am not familiar with the show. I have no memories of ever having watched an entire episode. I do remember seeing the opening scene of the program and promptly turning off the TV. Had Job been alive during this time and a fan of the TV series, perhaps he might have been talking about this show in this chapter.
Why do the wicked live and become old,
Yes, become mighty in power? . . .
Their bull breeds without failure;
Their cow calves without miscarriage.
They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance. They sing to the tambourine and harp,
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
They spend their days in wealth, . . .
“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does their destruction come upon them,
The sorrows God distributes in His anger?
At times it would appear that God does not uphold justice in this world. It seems that would be Job’s argument in this passage. Job describe the rich and the poor and then summarizes with this, “They lie down alike in the dust, and worms cover them.”
Job has now experienced both the lifestyle of the rich and famous and the poor and infamous. He realizes that they both have the same end. Clearly God’s judgment day is not necessarily rooted in this world. So to evaluate a person’s life by their status in this life is foolish. So how do we evaluate our lives? Surely it must be by God’s standard not our own. “Can anyone teach God knowledge, since He judges those on high?” So what is the standard by which we should judge? Listen to what Paul said, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.” When Jesus comes, He will reveal the true motivations of our hearts. In the meantime we should be pursuing this: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” How can we walk humbly with our God? I think it requires that we constantly gaze upon His glory lest we gain an inflated version of our own selves. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
From 1985-1994 there was a TV series called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. I really am not familiar with the show. I have no memories of ever having watched an entire episode. I do remember seeing the opening scene of the program and promptly turning off the TV. Had Job been alive during this time and a fan of the TV series, perhaps he might have been talking about this show in this chapter.
Why do the wicked live and become old,
Yes, become mighty in power? . . .
Their bull breeds without failure;
Their cow calves without miscarriage.
They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance. They sing to the tambourine and harp,
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
They spend their days in wealth, . . .
“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does their destruction come upon them,
The sorrows God distributes in His anger?
At times it would appear that God does not uphold justice in this world. It seems that would be Job’s argument in this passage. Job describe the rich and the poor and then summarizes with this, “They lie down alike in the dust, and worms cover them.”
Job has now experienced both the lifestyle of the rich and famous and the poor and infamous. He realizes that they both have the same end. Clearly God’s judgment day is not necessarily rooted in this world. So to evaluate a person’s life by their status in this life is foolish. So how do we evaluate our lives? Surely it must be by God’s standard not our own. “Can anyone teach God knowledge, since He judges those on high?” So what is the standard by which we should judge? Listen to what Paul said, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.” When Jesus comes, He will reveal the true motivations of our hearts. In the meantime we should be pursuing this: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” How can we walk humbly with our God? I think it requires that we constantly gaze upon His glory lest we gain an inflated version of our own selves. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Saturday, February 19, 2011
February 19, 2011
Job 19
“You can’t take it with you!” If Job’s hope were rooted in this world, then indeed God had stripped Job’s hope from him. He took his wealth. He took his children. He took his health. Then He took the support of Job’s wife and friends. Job has nothing left to trust in but God. If Job’s hope were rooted in this world, then I would say, “Indeed God had stripped Job’s hope from him.” Rightly so, for we should hope only in God. He might give us what we consider the good things of this world, but ultimately our hope should be singularly in Him. When Job says, “He has stripped me of my glory. . . My hope He has uprooted like a tree,” is that evil? God permitted it, and God is not the author of evil. Then there must be something good about it! I am not saying that the acts of losing his wealth, children, health, wife and friends are good acts in and of themselves! But I am saying that God uses those acts, which are the free will of His creatures, to produce a greater good, which when seen from a distance will prompt us to say, “I am glad God did that in me!”
But Job is not completely stripped of hope. And it is here that he pronounces that great hope that is the hope of all who truly trust in Jesus, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” The Living Bible states that last sentence as, “What a glorious hope!” Job knows that one day he will stand in the presence of God as a friend. Incredible! Job had nothing in this world. He had only the hope of one day standing in the presence of God as a friend.
We were created for that. Our sin has separated us from that. One day we will exit this world. When we exit, we will take nothing from this world. We will be stripped of our wealth, our children, our health, our spouse and our friends. There is only one hope, that we will stand in the presence of God as a friend. We can only enter that friendship through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. If living in this life is living for His glory, then dying is gain. If living in this life is living for my glory, then dying is irreparable loss, perdition. Oh God, keep me from living for me! I can’t take it with me. Let me send it on ahead! Your glory is all that matters! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
“You can’t take it with you!” If Job’s hope were rooted in this world, then indeed God had stripped Job’s hope from him. He took his wealth. He took his children. He took his health. Then He took the support of Job’s wife and friends. Job has nothing left to trust in but God. If Job’s hope were rooted in this world, then I would say, “Indeed God had stripped Job’s hope from him.” Rightly so, for we should hope only in God. He might give us what we consider the good things of this world, but ultimately our hope should be singularly in Him. When Job says, “He has stripped me of my glory. . . My hope He has uprooted like a tree,” is that evil? God permitted it, and God is not the author of evil. Then there must be something good about it! I am not saying that the acts of losing his wealth, children, health, wife and friends are good acts in and of themselves! But I am saying that God uses those acts, which are the free will of His creatures, to produce a greater good, which when seen from a distance will prompt us to say, “I am glad God did that in me!”
But Job is not completely stripped of hope. And it is here that he pronounces that great hope that is the hope of all who truly trust in Jesus, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” The Living Bible states that last sentence as, “What a glorious hope!” Job knows that one day he will stand in the presence of God as a friend. Incredible! Job had nothing in this world. He had only the hope of one day standing in the presence of God as a friend.
We were created for that. Our sin has separated us from that. One day we will exit this world. When we exit, we will take nothing from this world. We will be stripped of our wealth, our children, our health, our spouse and our friends. There is only one hope, that we will stand in the presence of God as a friend. We can only enter that friendship through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. If living in this life is living for His glory, then dying is gain. If living in this life is living for my glory, then dying is irreparable loss, perdition. Oh God, keep me from living for me! I can’t take it with me. Let me send it on ahead! Your glory is all that matters! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Friday, February 18, 2011
February 18, 2011
Job 18
Bildad speaks a second time describing the fate of the wicked. Of course in his ordered world, the wicked are soon punished for their sin, so Job must be guilty for he is obviously bearing the punishment of God. We know from the beginning of the book of Job and from the end of the book of Job that Bildad was incorrect. But is it not the glory of God to punish the sinner? Indeed it is. But punishment comes in His time. We must be very careful about drawing conclusions that someone’s poor circumstances are the punishment of God. Their poor circumstances could very well be the mercy of God. God could be using their poor circumstances to get their attention or to get our attention! The glory of God is often found as a result of poor circumstances! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Bildad speaks a second time describing the fate of the wicked. Of course in his ordered world, the wicked are soon punished for their sin, so Job must be guilty for he is obviously bearing the punishment of God. We know from the beginning of the book of Job and from the end of the book of Job that Bildad was incorrect. But is it not the glory of God to punish the sinner? Indeed it is. But punishment comes in His time. We must be very careful about drawing conclusions that someone’s poor circumstances are the punishment of God. Their poor circumstances could very well be the mercy of God. God could be using their poor circumstances to get their attention or to get our attention! The glory of God is often found as a result of poor circumstances! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Thursday, February 17, 2011
February 17, 2011
Job 16
“Daddy, if I were being chased by the Mafia, would you help me?” Now there is a strange question to come out of the blue. Beth had a dream the night before last. In her dream, the Mafia was chasing her. And NOBODY would help her except Jesse. The police wouldn’t help; nobody, whom she asked for help, would help. Later that day she jokingly asked me that question. Of course I would help.
11God has delivered me to the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked. 12 I was at ease, but He has shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target, 13His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground. –NKJV
Had God really delivered Job to the ungodly? The Contemporary English Version translates the last part of 13 as: “and without showing mercy, he slashed my stomach open, spilling out my insides.” Job is accusing God of being as merciless as if he were being drawn and quartered! Is that true of God? Indeed God had delivered Job to Satan. God gave Satan permission to do whatever he wanted with Job, except take his life. Satan took God up on the offer. How does this reflect upon the glory of God? I mean, even I, being evil, protect my children, wouldn’t God?
Sometimes God has greater plans in mind than our momentary protection. What we learn from Job is that although the pain which he was experiencing was excruciating, God is in control, and ultimately a few minutes in the presence of the Almighty is indeed worth days, months, weeks, yes, even years of pain. God wants the world to know that. But how can the world learn unless people like Job are willing? Sometimes God lets the spiritual Mafia take us, so we can learn how wonderful He is. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
“Daddy, if I were being chased by the Mafia, would you help me?” Now there is a strange question to come out of the blue. Beth had a dream the night before last. In her dream, the Mafia was chasing her. And NOBODY would help her except Jesse. The police wouldn’t help; nobody, whom she asked for help, would help. Later that day she jokingly asked me that question. Of course I would help.
11God has delivered me to the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked. 12 I was at ease, but He has shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target, 13His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground. –NKJV
Had God really delivered Job to the ungodly? The Contemporary English Version translates the last part of 13 as: “and without showing mercy, he slashed my stomach open, spilling out my insides.” Job is accusing God of being as merciless as if he were being drawn and quartered! Is that true of God? Indeed God had delivered Job to Satan. God gave Satan permission to do whatever he wanted with Job, except take his life. Satan took God up on the offer. How does this reflect upon the glory of God? I mean, even I, being evil, protect my children, wouldn’t God?
Sometimes God has greater plans in mind than our momentary protection. What we learn from Job is that although the pain which he was experiencing was excruciating, God is in control, and ultimately a few minutes in the presence of the Almighty is indeed worth days, months, weeks, yes, even years of pain. God wants the world to know that. But how can the world learn unless people like Job are willing? Sometimes God lets the spiritual Mafia take us, so we can learn how wonderful He is. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
February 16, 2011
Job 15
Eliphaz begins the second round of argument between Job and his three “friends.” Eliphaz gets very pointed and heated as the argument escalates. But what do we see of the glory of God? Eliphaz’ speech yields nothing but half-truths concerning God. True God is pure, but does He not trust His angels? True God does punish iniquity, but is it always in this life? Where is the glory of God? Maybe it is in the patience of God that He is willing to wait and let Eliphaz spout such vehement nonsense concerning His servant, Job. I wonder; is He as patient with me when I spout nonsense? I suspect that He is. Hmmm. . . How about you? Is He as patient with you? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Eliphaz begins the second round of argument between Job and his three “friends.” Eliphaz gets very pointed and heated as the argument escalates. But what do we see of the glory of God? Eliphaz’ speech yields nothing but half-truths concerning God. True God is pure, but does He not trust His angels? True God does punish iniquity, but is it always in this life? Where is the glory of God? Maybe it is in the patience of God that He is willing to wait and let Eliphaz spout such vehement nonsense concerning His servant, Job. I wonder; is He as patient with me when I spout nonsense? I suspect that He is. Hmmm. . . How about you? Is He as patient with you? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Monday, February 14, 2011
February 14, 2011
Job 13
In verse eleven the New Century Version says, “His bright glory would scare you.” The NKJV says His excellence. The New Living Translation says, “His glorious splendor.” One would think that Job had spent much time in meditation on the glory of God. I believe that he had. Because of that time in meditation upon the Lord, he says a couple of amazing things. First he knows that his present problem is not the judgment of God for specific sin that he has done. Look at what he says, “This is my case: I know that I am righteous.” He is doing his best to lay aside useless condemnation, and his friends are not helping him with this task. They are useless physicians. Second he knows that He can trust God to listen to whatever he has to say, “God may kill me for saying this—in fact, I expect him to. Nevertheless, I am going to argue my case with him.” (LB) He is familiar enough with the glory of God that he can speak his mind to God. Have I reached that point? Is that not the true essence of prayer?
Understanding the awesome glory of God, he asks two things of Him, “O God, there are two things I beg you not to do to me; only then will I be able to face you. 21Don’t abandon me. And don’t terrify me with your awesome presence.” Those of us who have chosen to cling to Jesus have come to the understanding that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He has promised that. However, He has never promised to not terrify us with His awesome presence. Indeed, Job got what he asked for. He was able to face God. God never abandoned him, but God indeed terrified Job with His presence. I think that if He were to reveal Himself to me as He did to Job, I would be terrified. But it would be a good terror; it was for Job. How about that, good terror? But then, that is the glory of our Lord. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
In verse eleven the New Century Version says, “His bright glory would scare you.” The NKJV says His excellence. The New Living Translation says, “His glorious splendor.” One would think that Job had spent much time in meditation on the glory of God. I believe that he had. Because of that time in meditation upon the Lord, he says a couple of amazing things. First he knows that his present problem is not the judgment of God for specific sin that he has done. Look at what he says, “This is my case: I know that I am righteous.” He is doing his best to lay aside useless condemnation, and his friends are not helping him with this task. They are useless physicians. Second he knows that He can trust God to listen to whatever he has to say, “God may kill me for saying this—in fact, I expect him to. Nevertheless, I am going to argue my case with him.” (LB) He is familiar enough with the glory of God that he can speak his mind to God. Have I reached that point? Is that not the true essence of prayer?
Understanding the awesome glory of God, he asks two things of Him, “O God, there are two things I beg you not to do to me; only then will I be able to face you. 21Don’t abandon me. And don’t terrify me with your awesome presence.” Those of us who have chosen to cling to Jesus have come to the understanding that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He has promised that. However, He has never promised to not terrify us with His awesome presence. Indeed, Job got what he asked for. He was able to face God. God never abandoned him, but God indeed terrified Job with His presence. I think that if He were to reveal Himself to me as He did to Job, I would be terrified. But it would be a good terror; it was for Job. How about that, good terror? But then, that is the glory of our Lord. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Sunday, February 13, 2011
February 13, 2011
Job 12
Job admits to being just like his accusers. He also has wisdom and insight into the greatness of God, yet He is without ability to apply it to his situation. If He withholds the waters, they dry up; if He sends them out they overwhelm the earth. We had little precipitation in Stillwater over the last six months. We were dry. God had withheld the water. These last two weeks He has sent snows that have overwhelmed us. God overthrows the mighty. This week in Egypt we have seen the government tottering like a wall about to fall. The King of Jordan dismissed his cabinet. God has the ability to bring all governments to its knees. Even the USA is exempt from His great abilities. He enlarges nations and makes them great. But how does this knowledge of His glory affect our daily lives? Do we not need a personal understanding of how the Lord applies His glory to our lives? He does if we wait upon Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Job admits to being just like his accusers. He also has wisdom and insight into the greatness of God, yet He is without ability to apply it to his situation. If He withholds the waters, they dry up; if He sends them out they overwhelm the earth. We had little precipitation in Stillwater over the last six months. We were dry. God had withheld the water. These last two weeks He has sent snows that have overwhelmed us. God overthrows the mighty. This week in Egypt we have seen the government tottering like a wall about to fall. The King of Jordan dismissed his cabinet. God has the ability to bring all governments to its knees. Even the USA is exempt from His great abilities. He enlarges nations and makes them great. But how does this knowledge of His glory affect our daily lives? Do we not need a personal understanding of how the Lord applies His glory to our lives? He does if we wait upon Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Saturday, February 12, 2011
February 12, 2011
Job 11
It is easy to latch on to one aspect of the Glory of God and think that you now understand how that applies to every aspect of life. Zophar thought that. He has some very astute understanding of the glory of God, and yet he has completely misapplied it in relation to Job. Look at some of Zophar's statements:
1. “God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.“ That is a statement that is partially true of everyone. If the Lord exacted justice immediately, then we would all be instantly killed. However, it is His mercy that holds off His justice giving us time to repent. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
2. “Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven—what can you do?” He is dead on center with this statement. We cannot find the limits of the Almighty. We will be forever learning more about God and never have learned everything because He is infinite. By definition finite creatures like ourselves will never be able to understand the infinite being. But how does that prove that Job is being punished for something He did wrong? It doesn’t; Zophar has misapplied the truth.
3. “If He passes by . . . then who can hinder Him?” Again Zophar is dead on center. No finite creature could ever hinder the infinite being! But how does that prove Job’s guilt?
4. “But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they shall not escape, And their hope—loss of life!” True the eyes of the wicked will fail. All of us will die. There is no escaping death except that the return of Jesus should happen before our time to die. Is the hope of the wicked loss of life? Jesus said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
This we learn about the glory of God from Zophar. It is His mercy that keeps me alive. Illness is not necessarily the direct punishment of God. God has no limits. I will be forever learning about what He is like. I cannot hinder His ultimate purpose. I can hinder His purpose in my own life but not His ultimate purpose. I have one hope, to lose myself in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
It is easy to latch on to one aspect of the Glory of God and think that you now understand how that applies to every aspect of life. Zophar thought that. He has some very astute understanding of the glory of God, and yet he has completely misapplied it in relation to Job. Look at some of Zophar's statements:
1. “God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.“ That is a statement that is partially true of everyone. If the Lord exacted justice immediately, then we would all be instantly killed. However, it is His mercy that holds off His justice giving us time to repent. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
2. “Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven—what can you do?” He is dead on center with this statement. We cannot find the limits of the Almighty. We will be forever learning more about God and never have learned everything because He is infinite. By definition finite creatures like ourselves will never be able to understand the infinite being. But how does that prove that Job is being punished for something He did wrong? It doesn’t; Zophar has misapplied the truth.
3. “If He passes by . . . then who can hinder Him?” Again Zophar is dead on center. No finite creature could ever hinder the infinite being! But how does that prove Job’s guilt?
4. “But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they shall not escape, And their hope—loss of life!” True the eyes of the wicked will fail. All of us will die. There is no escaping death except that the return of Jesus should happen before our time to die. Is the hope of the wicked loss of life? Jesus said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
This we learn about the glory of God from Zophar. It is His mercy that keeps me alive. Illness is not necessarily the direct punishment of God. God has no limits. I will be forever learning about what He is like. I cannot hinder His ultimate purpose. I can hinder His purpose in my own life but not His ultimate purpose. I have one hope, to lose myself in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
February 9, 2011
Job 8
Bildad goes right for Job’s throat. In verse four he lets Job know that his children have died because they sinned. Well, yeah, we all die because we sin, but that is part of the human condition from Adam’s fall. Bildad is taking it a step further here. He is accusing Job’s kids of having done something in particular for which God is killing them. In verse 13 he accuses Job of having forgotten God and being a hypocrite. Essentially he is telling Job, “Your circumstance is the result of your sin. If you would repent of what you did to deserve this, God would restore you.”
Sometimes God does use bad circumstances to get our attention. But we need to be very careful about interpreting that as punishment for sin. God does allow bad things to happen to good people like Job. Why? So that others can see Him work in our circumstances. It brings an even greater experiential knowledge of the glory of God. It is a knowledge that tells us that he is greater our worst nightmares. His presence & glory is worth our awful experience. His presence sets all things right. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Bildad goes right for Job’s throat. In verse four he lets Job know that his children have died because they sinned. Well, yeah, we all die because we sin, but that is part of the human condition from Adam’s fall. Bildad is taking it a step further here. He is accusing Job’s kids of having done something in particular for which God is killing them. In verse 13 he accuses Job of having forgotten God and being a hypocrite. Essentially he is telling Job, “Your circumstance is the result of your sin. If you would repent of what you did to deserve this, God would restore you.”
Sometimes God does use bad circumstances to get our attention. But we need to be very careful about interpreting that as punishment for sin. God does allow bad things to happen to good people like Job. Why? So that others can see Him work in our circumstances. It brings an even greater experiential knowledge of the glory of God. It is a knowledge that tells us that he is greater our worst nightmares. His presence & glory is worth our awful experience. His presence sets all things right. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
February 8, 2011
Job 7
Sometimes our circumstances are so bad that it is almost impossible to cease focusing upon them in order to focus on our glorious Lord. Job is there. Man, these are powerful words which Job speaks to God:
19 How long?
Will You not look away from me,
And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
20 Have I sinned?
What have I done to You, O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?
21 Why then do You not pardon my transgression,
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust,
And You will seek me diligently,
But I will no longer be.
Have you ever felt like saying that to God? You are unusual if you haven’t. He felt like God was picking on him. It was so bad that it hurt even to swallow, and Job thought that it was God’s design. He felt as if the piercing gaze of God was upon him bringing him his misfortune. Notice that he thought that God was not forgiving, “Why don’t you pardon my transgression?” Many of us wrestle with the same issues. We live in the shadow of condemnation, never realizing that we can be free of condemnation. The circumstance may be the result of living in a fallen world but not our direct sin. But we can’t shake the condemnation. Hmmm…
The truth is yes, the circumstance may be the result of our sin, but forgiveness is always obtainable if we will repent and believe. Job’s circumstance was not the direct result of his sin. Indeed, his circumstance was more a result of his righteousness than his sin. Our circumstance may or may not be the result of sin, but there is no reason to wallow in a feeling of condemnation. Our Lord is so glorious that he will forgive if we come to Him. We are still 35 chapters from the end, but when Job finally sees the glory of the Lord, he can only shut his mouth. The glory of the Lord was far greater than he could have ever imagined! It made his pain worth it all. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Sometimes our circumstances are so bad that it is almost impossible to cease focusing upon them in order to focus on our glorious Lord. Job is there. Man, these are powerful words which Job speaks to God:
19 How long?
Will You not look away from me,
And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
20 Have I sinned?
What have I done to You, O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?
21 Why then do You not pardon my transgression,
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust,
And You will seek me diligently,
But I will no longer be.
Have you ever felt like saying that to God? You are unusual if you haven’t. He felt like God was picking on him. It was so bad that it hurt even to swallow, and Job thought that it was God’s design. He felt as if the piercing gaze of God was upon him bringing him his misfortune. Notice that he thought that God was not forgiving, “Why don’t you pardon my transgression?” Many of us wrestle with the same issues. We live in the shadow of condemnation, never realizing that we can be free of condemnation. The circumstance may be the result of living in a fallen world but not our direct sin. But we can’t shake the condemnation. Hmmm…
The truth is yes, the circumstance may be the result of our sin, but forgiveness is always obtainable if we will repent and believe. Job’s circumstance was not the direct result of his sin. Indeed, his circumstance was more a result of his righteousness than his sin. Our circumstance may or may not be the result of sin, but there is no reason to wallow in a feeling of condemnation. Our Lord is so glorious that he will forgive if we come to Him. We are still 35 chapters from the end, but when Job finally sees the glory of the Lord, he can only shut his mouth. The glory of the Lord was far greater than he could have ever imagined! It made his pain worth it all. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Friday, February 4, 2011
February 4, 2011
Job 3
Have you ever felt that low? “Why does God let me live when life is miserable and so bitter?” The question blatantly questions God’s love. “I have no peace or rest—only troubles and worries.” Sometimes the pain is so bad that we just can’t get off of the focus upon our own rotten circumstances—and they are rotten. Is that part of what Jesus was experiencing when upon the cross He cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Somehow, I think the level of spiritual pain that Jesus was experiencing was far deeper than Job’s worst nightmares. Jesus could have come off of the cross had he chosen to do so. But in the midst of the pain, He chose to stay. Conversely, Job could not bring himself out of his pit, but he would have if he had the opportunity. Jesus stayed on the cross to the point of death in order to deliver us from death. That is love! The next time that I am wallowing in self-pity, I need to remember that Jesus endured worse, and He endured it for me, for us. Perhaps my suffering with that attitude will bring more glory to Him. Lord, help me to keep my eyes on You and not my circumstances. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Have you ever felt that low? “Why does God let me live when life is miserable and so bitter?” The question blatantly questions God’s love. “I have no peace or rest—only troubles and worries.” Sometimes the pain is so bad that we just can’t get off of the focus upon our own rotten circumstances—and they are rotten. Is that part of what Jesus was experiencing when upon the cross He cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Somehow, I think the level of spiritual pain that Jesus was experiencing was far deeper than Job’s worst nightmares. Jesus could have come off of the cross had he chosen to do so. But in the midst of the pain, He chose to stay. Conversely, Job could not bring himself out of his pit, but he would have if he had the opportunity. Jesus stayed on the cross to the point of death in order to deliver us from death. That is love! The next time that I am wallowing in self-pity, I need to remember that Jesus endured worse, and He endured it for me, for us. Perhaps my suffering with that attitude will bring more glory to Him. Lord, help me to keep my eyes on You and not my circumstances. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
February 3, 2011
Job 2
This all-loving all-powerful God permits Satan to take his best shot at God’s most loyal subject. That is love? Why? I think it is for the benefit of all creation. How would we know if loving God is worth it unless we are put in the worst of circumstances in order to experience God in the midst of the worst circumstances? When Job’s closest friend sums up the situation and advises him to “curse God and die,” How will he respond? Will he find that the experience of God is worth the adversity? That is indeed the theme of the book. What is Job’s response? “Shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity?” We are about to find out if it is worth the adversity. The next 40 chapters records the adversity and Job’s struggle with the pain of his detractors and the pain of feeling misused by God. Job is indeed angry with God at times, but in the end when he comes face-to-face with the Almighty, he repents. Hmm. . . I have never suffered to the extent Job suffered. But I have found that in my worst times of feeling abused, that is when the presence of God was the strongest. I don’t want those times of being abused, but I will take them for that increased sense of God’s presence. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
This all-loving all-powerful God permits Satan to take his best shot at God’s most loyal subject. That is love? Why? I think it is for the benefit of all creation. How would we know if loving God is worth it unless we are put in the worst of circumstances in order to experience God in the midst of the worst circumstances? When Job’s closest friend sums up the situation and advises him to “curse God and die,” How will he respond? Will he find that the experience of God is worth the adversity? That is indeed the theme of the book. What is Job’s response? “Shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity?” We are about to find out if it is worth the adversity. The next 40 chapters records the adversity and Job’s struggle with the pain of his detractors and the pain of feeling misused by God. Job is indeed angry with God at times, but in the end when he comes face-to-face with the Almighty, he repents. Hmm. . . I have never suffered to the extent Job suffered. But I have found that in my worst times of feeling abused, that is when the presence of God was the strongest. I don’t want those times of being abused, but I will take them for that increased sense of God’s presence. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
February 2, 2011
Job 1
“How many of you still believe that there is an all-powerful and all-loving God?” Such was the question at the end of the first third of the semester in my agnostic professor’s “Philosophical Problems class.” I and maybe two other guys in the class raised our hands. The prof latched on to me and said, “I want to know why.” Unable to answer some of the other questions, which he had raised, I simply responded with, “Because I believe in the undeniable evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” His response was that that was an appeal to authority and that was not acceptable in a philosophy class. I tried to rebut, but he cut me off and moved the class on.
I believe there are three instinctive tests that God has given to all humans in order to determine truth. The first is, “Is the truth claim consistent with reality?” The second is, “Is the truth claim consistent with itself?” The third is, “Does the truth claim satisfy the desires of my heart?” Right or wrong, deceived or not deceived, we all depend upon how we answer those tests in order to determine the validity of truth claims. In my opinion, the truth claim that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, is the most consistent claim with the evidence of the empty tomb. It certainly is consistent with itself and clearly satisfies the desire of my heart.
I clearly could not deal well with some of the problems that I ran into in reconciling the clear evils in the world with the truth claim that God is both all-loving and all-powerful. If He is both, why does he allow evil to exist at all? Somewhere in the infinite mind of God the answer is more brilliant than the sun. However, I am finite and sinful. I have a problem grasping this whole concept of infinity, much less an infinite God. This much I understand. I am sinful; therefore, if I want all evil to be annihilated or to have never happened, then if that happens, I will disappear. It would be as though I never was, am or would be. That certainly is not consistent with reality or the desire of my heart. I like my existence. Along with Descartes, I claim, “I think; therefore, I am.”
One of the things that I learned in the “Problems of Philosophy” class is that the problem of why a loving God allows evil is never really answered frontally by God in the book of Job. Through this first chapter, we simply see that evil exists. It exists in Job. It exists in his children. Indeed, he sees the need to act as a family priest for his children in sacrificing for them on a regular basis. We see the evil in other people who attack Job. We see evil in nature as fire falls from heaven destroying much of his goods, and as a tornado collapses his children’s house killing them. These evils come with the permission of God from Satan. Now that scenario is very consistent with reality. Evil does exist, and it exists in me! Should I then charge God with wrong because the world and I are the way we are? I don’t think so. God is busy restoring His kingdom. He calls me to obedience while I watch His restoration in me and in others. Now that is consistent with itself. It is consistent with reality. Is it consistent with the desires of my heart? That one is up to me. If it is not, then I need a new heart. How do I get it? I get it by repentance and faith in Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
“How many of you still believe that there is an all-powerful and all-loving God?” Such was the question at the end of the first third of the semester in my agnostic professor’s “Philosophical Problems class.” I and maybe two other guys in the class raised our hands. The prof latched on to me and said, “I want to know why.” Unable to answer some of the other questions, which he had raised, I simply responded with, “Because I believe in the undeniable evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” His response was that that was an appeal to authority and that was not acceptable in a philosophy class. I tried to rebut, but he cut me off and moved the class on.
I believe there are three instinctive tests that God has given to all humans in order to determine truth. The first is, “Is the truth claim consistent with reality?” The second is, “Is the truth claim consistent with itself?” The third is, “Does the truth claim satisfy the desires of my heart?” Right or wrong, deceived or not deceived, we all depend upon how we answer those tests in order to determine the validity of truth claims. In my opinion, the truth claim that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, is the most consistent claim with the evidence of the empty tomb. It certainly is consistent with itself and clearly satisfies the desire of my heart.
I clearly could not deal well with some of the problems that I ran into in reconciling the clear evils in the world with the truth claim that God is both all-loving and all-powerful. If He is both, why does he allow evil to exist at all? Somewhere in the infinite mind of God the answer is more brilliant than the sun. However, I am finite and sinful. I have a problem grasping this whole concept of infinity, much less an infinite God. This much I understand. I am sinful; therefore, if I want all evil to be annihilated or to have never happened, then if that happens, I will disappear. It would be as though I never was, am or would be. That certainly is not consistent with reality or the desire of my heart. I like my existence. Along with Descartes, I claim, “I think; therefore, I am.”
One of the things that I learned in the “Problems of Philosophy” class is that the problem of why a loving God allows evil is never really answered frontally by God in the book of Job. Through this first chapter, we simply see that evil exists. It exists in Job. It exists in his children. Indeed, he sees the need to act as a family priest for his children in sacrificing for them on a regular basis. We see the evil in other people who attack Job. We see evil in nature as fire falls from heaven destroying much of his goods, and as a tornado collapses his children’s house killing them. These evils come with the permission of God from Satan. Now that scenario is very consistent with reality. Evil does exist, and it exists in me! Should I then charge God with wrong because the world and I are the way we are? I don’t think so. God is busy restoring His kingdom. He calls me to obedience while I watch His restoration in me and in others. Now that is consistent with itself. It is consistent with reality. Is it consistent with the desires of my heart? That one is up to me. If it is not, then I need a new heart. How do I get it? I get it by repentance and faith in Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
February 1, 2011
Esther 9-10
What is there of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ here in this story? Perhaps, on a literal level, it is that the Lord provided deliverance to His people through Mordecai and Esther. On symbolic level, is it not that when we needed protection from our enemies, our Lord came and became flesh to redeem us from the curse of law and deliver us from the hand of the enemy. He has come and crushed the head of our enemy, Satan, the serpent of the Garden. He will soon crush him completely under our feet. It may be at the end of our lives, but he will do it!
If I were a believer living in Egypt on this day in time, how would this passage speak to me? Egypt at this moment is undergoing much political instability right now. As a result, much violence and theft is being committed. Some of it is directed at Christians by Muslim fundamentalists. If I were a believer experiencing these problems, how would this passage speak to me? I would need to live with the realization that Jesus will one day bring justice. I might not see it in my life time, but He will one day execute justice upon the earth. Until then I must be willing to lay down all that is in my life for His glory. I must cling to the future promise. But I am not a believer living in Egypt. Yet that same attitude must drive my life here and now. I will lay down all that is in my life for His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
What is there of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ here in this story? Perhaps, on a literal level, it is that the Lord provided deliverance to His people through Mordecai and Esther. On symbolic level, is it not that when we needed protection from our enemies, our Lord came and became flesh to redeem us from the curse of law and deliver us from the hand of the enemy. He has come and crushed the head of our enemy, Satan, the serpent of the Garden. He will soon crush him completely under our feet. It may be at the end of our lives, but he will do it!
If I were a believer living in Egypt on this day in time, how would this passage speak to me? Egypt at this moment is undergoing much political instability right now. As a result, much violence and theft is being committed. Some of it is directed at Christians by Muslim fundamentalists. If I were a believer experiencing these problems, how would this passage speak to me? I would need to live with the realization that Jesus will one day bring justice. I might not see it in my life time, but He will one day execute justice upon the earth. Until then I must be willing to lay down all that is in my life for His glory. I must cling to the future promise. But I am not a believer living in Egypt. Yet that same attitude must drive my life here and now. I will lay down all that is in my life for His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
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