Daily
Bible Study for Tuesday May 3, 2016
By: Hanny
Lynn Stearns
Fish
– N – Loaves Ministries
Multiplying
God’s Word around the Globe!
Chapter Reading for Today: Please read in your Bible before proceeding. Note that most
translations are considered paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation
provides a more accurate translation since he is the one who authored a
concordance. Others are helpful for seeing a different perspective, but we
cannot always depend on their wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you
are studying in another version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but
for the purpose of this study, I will keep it with the New King James Version. One final note: I will put the
scripture in italics to differentiate from my own writing. I am adding red to the letters when it is Jesus talking – just
like the Bible. Thank you. J
All scripture is taken from
the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.
Job 1 & 2 Job’s
Response To Trials
The
Man and His Trials
In the first two
chapters of Job we will look into the life of a man who was considered perfect
in the Lord’s sight. This statement alone throws a lot of theology out the
window. Most Christians think it is impossible to be perfect in God’s sight.
But that is contrary to scripture. If we read the first two chapters in this
book we will plainly see that God Himself made this statement:
Job 1:8
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My
servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a
blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
Job 2:3a
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My
servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a
blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?
So it must be true. Yes, in this life we will never have
perfect understanding or do everything exactly right all the time. But it is
also true that we can have a perfect heart toward the Lord. Man looks at the
outward things while God looks at the heart. He knows the state of every man
and woman’s heart. So if He says someone is perfect, then they must be because
God cannot lie.
Today as we move away from Corinthians to the study of the
life of Job, let’s keep in mind a couple of things. One is that we cannot
always understand every single thing that happens. The Lord does not always
tell us everything we want to know about every situation we encounter and may
have questions about. With that in mind, let’s also remember that Holy Spirit
is living inside us and He wants to show each of us something as we study this,
so let’s agree together that He will give me the utterance I need to be used of
Him to get His message for us out, amen?!
We are looking at a godly man who had great wealth. There is
so much in the book of Job that we could go a thousand different directions
with it and study all kinds of things that we can apply to our lives. But the
Lord knows exactly what He wants us to receive for such a time as this –
hallelujah!
Job was a wealthy man. How many know when God is first in our
lives He wants to make us wealthy like Job so we can bless many others. We
can’t bless people financially or do things for them if we are flat broke or
barely getting by. Job had a lot of livestock – the things that were considered
wealth in his time. He had many servants, ten kids and a wife along with a very
great household. Can you imagine what it must have been like at mealtime at his
house? Wow, they would have a lot of people to feed. But I bet they had a
wonderful time together. It sounds like Job was busy as he taught his family to
honor God.
Job also prayed fervently for his wife and kids, desiring
that they would all keep themselves pure before the Lord at all times. How many
families are doing that in our world today? Sadly, not as many as should be. In
fact, Job was considered the greatest man of all the men of the east. That is a
pretty big assessment of a godly man in that day, amen?! In chapter one, the as
the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, guess who showed up
at the gathering, quite uninvited? You are right, it was satan himself. And
where did he come from? Well, as scripture tells us, he is ever roaming around the
earth, to and fro, up and down. And what is his purpose? The Bible makes that
quite clear as well…
John 10:10a
The thief does not come except to steal, and to
kill, and to destroy.
Friends, the devil
has one thing in mind at all times and that is to bring destruction into our
lives. Why? Because he hates God and considers himself to be a god. He wants to
take God’s place; what a joke! How stupid can he be?? So he shows up in
people’s lives to see if he can get in and bring them trouble. Do you remember
yesterday in our study in 2 Corinthians 2 about forgiveness and what happens
when we do not forgive someone? Actually it was a great segway into our study
today. Any sin can bring opportunity to the devil allowing him to slip inside
the door of our lives and hearts and wreak destruction of great magnitude. More
on that in a minute. Let’s look at what the Bible says about being watchful for
the enemy’s tactics…
Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.
The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak.”
Jesus warned His disciples (and
us) that we have to be watchful and praying because we can fall into various
temptations and as a result, we become an open target for the enemy to attack.
How so? Well let’s look at the doors of our homes. We close them to keep things
we don’t want from coming in, right? If we let our door stay open even a crack,
a lot of undesirable things could crawl in the door. All kinds of bugs and
things that belong outside if they belong anywhere at all. But even a crack, a
small crack can allow them in.
They don’t need much space to
inch their way into a place where they really don’t belong. And so it is with
the human heart. Even a slight crack can allow the devil to come in and bring
bad things to our lives. What kind of things you ask? That’s a great question.
Things like fear, doubt, (unbelief), worry, anxiety, disobedience to what God
has told us to do, un-forgiveness and bitterness, malice of all kinds, and the
list goes on – these things are considered sin and they allow the devil access
to our lives. Too many times Christians will see sickness come to their lives,
or a loss of a loved one, an accident, loss of finances, etc. and want to blame
God and/or question Him about why and how He could be so good yet allow this
atrocity to happen in their lives. Then they get angry – some even to the point
of cursing God! Talk about throwing fuel on the fire.
We see in our chapter today
that Job did not blame God one bit. The devil came to God and accused Job of fearing
God for nothing. The devil is the accuser. He saw Job’s prosperity and devotion
to God and he was going after him with all he had.
Revelation 12:10
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His
Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them
before our God day and night, has been cast down.
He presented his
case before the Lord and said that if God had not protected him and everything
that concerned him – if God had not blessed the work of his hands, he would
curse God to His face. What a liar the devil is! He is the father of all lies…
John 8:44
You are of your father the devil,
and the desires of your father you want to
do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
You read it – you know what
happened next. The Lord allowed satan to attack Job’s belonging’s but he was
not allowed to touch the man himself. At this point we can see no reason
whatsoever that satan would have any legal right to bring all of this
destruction to this sweet man of God’s life, can we? Everything with the Lord
and the kingdom of God is based on legalities. God never steps outside of the
legal boundaries that have been set in place since before the foundation of the
world. So before we read any further, we cannot question God on His integrity
or purpose in this. We have yet to understand all that was involved at this
point, but let’s go along for the ride in faith and trust the Lord to reveal
what and how much He wants to for now, amen?
Maybe you are like me at this
point. Maybe in your mind you are wondering why did satan have the legal right
to steal all of Job’s belongings, but not touch his body? I believe there is
more to be revealed on this as we go. Stay with me. Just because we cannot
understand something is no reason to give up and walk away – amen?!
So the devil takes all his
stuff and all his kids. There were four messengers of satan – people the devil
used to bring the bad news to Job as he stripped away, one by one, each section
of his belongings until finally they were all gone. Then he went after the
kids. I remember Paul dealing with a ‘messenger of satan’…
2 Corinthians 12:7
And lest I should be exalted above measure by the
abundance of the revelations,
a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above
measure.
The word ‘buffet’
means to contend against. Paul had the devil on his heals at every turn, didn’t
he? And why? Because he was used mightily in doing the Lord’s work. Well, Job
was no different. He also did what he was called to do and was prospering. He
was a prayer warrior and he was considered the most perfect of all men in the
east. Is it any wonder why the enemy would come after him? Have you ever
noticed that lukewarm Christians don’t seem to have the same battles as say, a
person who is on fire for the Lord and doing a mighty work? Well, satan won’t
go after the small stuff. He goes after the people who are doing great things
for the Lord. It is the way it is in this life till we leave – we better get
used to it and learn how to deal with it – amen?!
After all, why do
you think the devil is wreaking so much havoc on Israel? It is the smallest of
nations and seemingly the most vulnerable. But they are God’s chosen people. So
in all the earth, what is the most heat over? That’s right – Israel. But the
devil has limits. He can only break in where there is an opening. Let’s look at
this…
Mark 3:27
No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods,
unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
For now the earth
is satan’s house. And he does not want to lose it! He knows that he will be
going to the pit with the doors shut soon enough – along with all his little
demon underlings. But until that day he is doing everything he can (albeit
foolish and useless!) to protect his dominion – the earth. Even though the earth
is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, satan is considered the god of this
world. That is why we see so much evil going on all around us. After the fall
it was open season for the devil.
So what can a
person do to keep the devil from breaking into our lives and stealing, killing
and destroying? Like we discussed earlier, a person has to keep themselves free
from sin, disobedience and anything that goes against the ways of the Lord. In
so doing we can live a Psalm 91 life. Read that and consider the perfect
protection of the Lord…
Psalm 91
He who dwells in the secret place of
the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my
fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the
snare of the fowler and from
the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His
wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies
by day, nor of the
pestilence that walks
in darkness, nor of the
destruction that lays
waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, and
ten thousand at your right hand; but it
shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the
Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague
come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot
against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion
and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
“Because he has set his love upon
Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known
My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I
will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him
My salvation.”
But
wait a minute Hanny. I thought you said if we are obedient in everything that
the enemy can’t touch us? And what about this Psalm? It clearly shows that if
we ‘abide’ in the shelter of the Almighty that no evil would befall us and no
plague would come near our homes. So if Job was making the Lord his dwelling
place, and it is quite clear that he was, how could the enemy have a legal
right to do all this? Let me suggest something, may I? Why don’t we take this
book of Job and read it day by day and look at each chapter as if we had never
read or studied it before? Don’t look at your study notes. I would even go so
far as to suggest that we not look at any commentaries for the time being –
until after we find out more about this, agreed? Of course you can do as you
wish.
My
point in this is that if we get to looking at what other people wrote about
this book then our thinking can be clouded. We could miss what God wants to say
to us right now. We might try to lean on our own understanding and miss the
fresh revelation that Holy Spirit wants to bring us – make sense? If we follow
His lead, in faith, there is no limit then to what we can receive. And God
wants to give us a rich lesson for our lives right now. He knows who is reading
this study, and He knows exactly what He wants to say to each of us as we walk
through it in faith with Him – hallelujah!
That’s
what makes this job so exciting! Though this study is a form of work for me, I
consider a major privilege, blessing and honor to be able to be used of the
Lord to hear Him speak to us and then be able to share it with others so that
many can be built up in their walk with Him. Every day His mercies are new and
every day is a gift that has yet to be unwrapped. If we try to cheat by relying
on past lessons and our current understanding, we are really stunting our
growth, aren’t we? So let’s try to study this chapter together as if it were
the first time ever, OK?
Alright,
where were we? Oh, yes. So the enemy is trying to take everything Job had –
even his precious kids! Can we even begin to imagine what that must have been
like to lose all one’s kids in one fell swoop? It had to be so devastating; far
beyond human comprehension! After the possessions and the kids were taken, how
did Job respond? He praised the Lord! Imagine that! You lose anything and
everything that ever mattered to you in one day and then you turn your face to
heaven and praise God! How many of us would go that far? How many would
continue to praise God without having any true understanding of why the
catastrophe happened? Job literally fell to the ground and worshipped God! No
wonder the Lord said he was perfect! Behavior like that only proves to show a
man’s true heart in the worst of times.
Whether
we know why a thing happened or not, what is our consistent response to God? Is
He only a fair weather friend to us? Or is He really the Rock of our salvation
– the One we love and adore above every possession we have and every single
person we have ever known? When we put silver or gold to the fire – very
intense heat, what happens? All the junk comes to the surface. Every impurity
in that precious metal responds to the intense heat by coming out, doesn’t it?
So
when we walk through the fires of this life, what will come out of us humans?
You guessed it! All the junk that is in there. But if our hearts are right like
God said about Job, well, we can display a love for God like Job did, no matter
how intense the heat – amen! His response was all the proof that God needed to
see to know His child Job really did love and respect Him. It was the exact
opposite of what satan had said his response would be. But he is a liar. And
God, who knows the end from the beginning already knew exactly how Job would
respond to this intense test of his faith, amen?! This is a great time to look
at a promise in God’s word about what happens when we walk through the fires in
our lives…
Isaiah
43:2
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch
you.
That’s a promise that won’t fail us saints. It is in God’s
word and it is for you and me today. What about Shadrach, Meshach and
Abed-Nego? Wouldn’t you agree that the fire was pretty intense for them that
day?
Daniel 3:8-30
Therefore at that time
certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews. They spoke and said
to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a
decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with
all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image; and
whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have set over the
affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men,
O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship
the gold image which you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar, in
rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So
they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to
them, “Is it true,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you
do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now if
you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp,
lyre, and psaltery,
in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image
which I have made, good! But
if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace. And who is the
god who will deliver you from my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to
answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us
from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O
king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve
your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was
full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times
more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain
mighty men of valor who were in
his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into
the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their
trousers, their turbans, and their other garments,
and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore,
because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the
flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-Nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell
down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar
was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three
men bound into the midst of the fire?”
They answered and said
to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose,
walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the
fourth is like the Son of God.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar went
near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego,
servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst
of the fire. And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s
counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire
had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments
affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
Nebuchadnezzar spoke,
saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His
Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have
frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not
serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore I make a decree
that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the
God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their
houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver
like this.”
Then the king promoted
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.
Glory to God! Saints, look at the opening of this scripture. Do
you notice who came to accuse these wonderful godly men? You’re right! It was
the Chaldeans. They were not a godly group of people, so they were wide open
targets for the enemy to use them as his mouthpieces to accuse the men of God
for not worshiping king Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. Here we see how the
whole trial started, don’t we – just like we are looking at Job today. Did God
remove them from the trial? No, He allowed them to be tossed into that raging
furnace. Common sense tells us that no flesh could survive that type of heat.
Even the guys tossing them in died as they did because it was so hot. But these
three bold men of God had faith that could squelch the hottest of flames. Do we
see them whimpering before the king and begging for mercy? Absolutely not.
Too many times the Lord’s people encounter a trial in their life
and immediately start fault finding. They want an explanation immediately and
do not seek the Lord for wisdom before they start asking Him why He allowed
this to happen to them. And before they know it, they have placed themselves in
more of harm’s way by their attitude. But in Job’s case, we see no such
commotion. Like our three guys in the furnace trial, who, by the way were facing
immediate death, Job reacted by falling on his face before the Lord with a
heart of worship without having a clue about why this had happened to him.
Most folks want to whine and cry and get into a pity party about
their ‘terrible circumstances’ and turn away from the Lord rather than turning to
Him. It only makes matters worse.
They want immediate relief from any and all suffering and don’t
seek to understand what the Lord can show them in the midst of it. Besides,
God’s response to a heart that truly adores Him is going to be way different
than His response to someone who is whining and complaining and feeling sorry
for themselves – amen?!
When we look at the last verse of chapter one, we see a power
packed statement about Job’s response to his circumstances:
Job 1:22
In all
this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
How many of us have a track record like this
saints? Hmmm….I believe we are getting to the meat of what the Lord wants to
show us tonight – amen?! As we move into chapter two, we see the same scenario
play out as we saw in chapter one. These two chapters really need to be
digested together – at least that’s what the Lord is showing us right now for
this study. I will let you in on a little secret. We are following the Faith
Life Church Bible reading plan for our Monday through Friday study. You may
remember I mentioned this in the beginning when I first started sending these
studies out. Everybody at our church reads the same chapters each Monday through
Friday. Then we have church on Friday evening so we have something to feed on
for our Saturday’s devotion, and with church on Sunday we certainly are given a
well-balanced meal to chew on for that day.
During the week we are all encouraged to read at least
the chapter reading for the day, and certainly more if one desires to. The Lord
has led me to teach following their/our reading plan. Last week we were given
new cards to show us what books of the Bible we would be studying starting May
1 for the remainder of this year and into next year. Well, yesterday I thought
we were still supposed to be in the book of Corinthians. I felt strongly led of
the Lord to move in that direction, not knowing that we were supposed to be in
Job, and certainly not knowing that we were going to focus on forgiveness and
in that share my mother’s life story. Isn’t God amazing?
As it turns out, what we studied yesterday had
many good purposes, none the least of which we are now seeing. It flows right
into what we are studying about satanic attack in our lives when there are open
doors. But now we see that the Lord is showing us how to trust Him completely
even when we are in the worst of circumstances and don’t have a clue why it is
happening. Praise His name forever!
The devil went back before the Lord to make
further accusations against this sweet man who was in quite a state of mourning
as we can imagine. Now the devil tells the Lord that a man will give anything
he has to save his own hide. As least that’s what he thought! But Job would
prove him wrong once again – hallelujah! Satan asks for Job’s body to be
afflicted and the Lord gave permission, again forbidding him, in this case from
taking the man’s life. God had set limits in both cases. So satan was given the
authority to bring sickness to Job. He struck him with a case of boils from his
head to his feet. Can you imagine?
The misery must have been beyond description! And
we think we have had problems, right? The Lord told satan that Job had
maintained his integrity on the first wave of attacks - not hesitating to
remind the devil that he had moved the Lord against His servant Job to destroy
him without cause.
Without cause? What??? But how could God allow
that to happen to Job if he were innocent and so perfect in his heart toward
God? It just doesn’t make sense. What about Psalm 91? This is the part where we
do not understand. I think this is THE
point God is showing us today. Even if we do not understand what is going on,
will we trust Him? Without any answers or immediate solutions to the problem at
hand, will we really trust Him completely? Will we walk through the fire with
Him?
You remember our three bold men went into the
furnace, but there were four seen walking around in the midst of that terrible
heat, right? And the king even said out of his own ungodly mouth that the 4th
man in the furnace looked like the Son of God! Think about this for a moment.
How would the king who didn’t love or respect God or His people have a clue
what His Son looked like – especially when Jesus had never even been born in
the earth yet? Saints that was a miracle. Nothing short of a full blown awesome
God miracle!
When those three guys stood their ground and refused to bow down
to the king or his idols, the Lord showed up big time! That is why they could
walk through the fire and not be burned! Jesus promised in the verse in Isaiah
that we already looked at that when we walk through the fires of this life, we
will not get burned. And He said He would be with us always, even to the end of
the age. Always means always. He will be with us every step of the way…
Matthew 28:20
and lo,
I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Glory to God! As I was driving home today after
running errands, I was turning the corner to pull into our apartment complex.
Suddenly I began to cry and thank the Lord for always being with me. I had had
a wonderful day so far – nothing to be sad about. I was rejoicing in God my
Savior and I just wanted to thank Him for being with me everywhere I went. When
this happened I had no idea that I had opened to the verse above earlier in the
day in my living room Bible. I saw several key verses in the morning but did
not know which one He would highlight for me personally or for this study. Now
I know – oh praise His name forever!
And when I began this study today I had questions
like I have never had before. Maybe the same ones you had when you read these
chapters. Why could satan strike him if he was so perfect? What gave God the
right to spare his life but allow his possessions and body to be ransacked by
the devil? Why, why, why? And all this without a cause? It didn’t make sense.
But I decided to step into this study with a fresh set of spiritual eyes and
expect Him to deliver what He knows we needed to receive. The Lord has shown
His mighty power and faithfulness once again. Give Him glory saints! He is an
awesome and mighty God! Hallelujah!
Now that Job had been stricken with the boils his
wife pipes in with some really foolish advice. She told him to curse God and
die. How many folks at this point in the game would have just agreed with her
and thrown in the towel saying, “Ya, your right! At this point there is nothing
left. I might as well just die.” Oh but not Job! No sir, no mam! He told his
wife how foolish she was being and here is what his next response was…
Job 2:10
But he
said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept
good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin
with his lips.
Job was steadfast. He may not have known why all
this happened, but he knew one thing for sure. He would still believe in his
God. How many of us would do the same today in the midst of such a horrendous
disaster? And look at the end of the verse – a repeat from chapter one. In all
this Job did not sin with his lips. Talk about watching one’s heart and words!
Glory to God!
Ok, brace yourself now for the final miracle
today. I opened my bedroom Bible this morning to the book of John, chapters 9
& 10. When we started this study I thought it was quite obvious what the
Lord wanted to show us with the John 10:10 verse about the thief who comes to
steal, kill and destroy. But just now I looked over to the other side of the
page and I had previously underlined the verse in John 9:30. This is about the
man who had been born blind and Jesus had healed him. When the Pharisees began
to question who had healed him and where the man was from, his reply was this…
John 9:30
The man
answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not
know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!
King Nebuchadnezzar had had a similar experience,
didn’t he? He did not know who Jesus was and certainly did not honor or
reverence God. But in the furnace that day Jesus had revealed Himself to the
king in a way only He can. And the King knew it was the Son of God. Saints,
this was a miraculous display of God’s love for people – all people, even a
wicked king! Jesus revealed Himself to the king that day just like He revealed
Himself to the man born blind…
John 9:35-38
Jesus heard that they
had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you
believe in the Son of God?”
He answered and said,
“Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
And Jesus said to
him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”
Then he said, “Lord, I
believe!” And he worshiped Him.
Like the man who had been healed of his
blindness, the king in our previous scripture saw the Lord is a new way that
day, didn’t he? It caused him to order people to worship the one true God. So
we have two different experiences with a similar and powerful result, don’t we?
Glory to God! Once we encounter Jesus, everything changes. What we couldn’t see
before (in our spiritual blindness) becomes crystal clear. If Jesus could show
up in town that day and appear before a man who had never seen his own parents,
He can certainly show Himself to us in any situation we may be facing in this
very temporary life, amen?! Here is a verse I pulled out of my scripture card
box today. It bears the truth that God’s goodness can change a life…
Romans 2:4
Or do
you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not
knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
The king and the healed man both responded to the
goodness of God with the same heart – a heart of worship. How about you saints?
Our 2nd chapter in Job today ends with his friends arriving on the
scene to comfort him and mourn with him. Looks good so far right? Stay tuned. I
am so excited about digging into tomorrow’s chapter, aren’t you? But for now
let’s rejoice in what He is showing us – praise His name forever!
Questions:
What was satan’s
first accusation of Job?
List the second
accusation that the devil brought before the Lord concerning Job.
What was Job’s response after the first wave of attacks? What was
his response to the second round of attack?
What is your response to trials in your life when they come? Do
you seek the Lord and draw close, or do you run the other way and try to figure
it out on your own? Do you worship Him or do you find fault? Spend some time
thinking about this and write out your thoughts here. The Lord is listening you
know.
Ecclesiastes 7:14
In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the
day of adversity consider:
surely God has appointed the one as well as the
other,
so that man can find out nothing that
will come after him.
Proverbs 24:10
If you
faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
There
are three main points to consider from today’s study…
We will not always understand everything that happens in this life
People of God are not immune to trials
In the worst of circumstances, praise is the only correct response
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the
day You allowed me to see Jesus! Father, in the midst of the worst times in my
past, You were always there. Thank You Father for being faithful and powerfully
present in the furnaces I have to endure. I know that any and every trial I
face in this life You will be with me to walk me right out of them. Lord I ask
You to open my eyes to see anything You want me to see in my life and current
circumstances as they stand right now. Help me to keep my faith strong by
giving me the right word in season for the situations I am facing. Thank You in
advance for the victory You always bring through Your precious Son Jesus. I
know that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, and with
You Lord all things are possible. Thank You in advance for Your love and help
in all matters that concern me, in Jesus mighty name! Amen!
Will you choose to praise Him
even when you hurt the most?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks...
1
Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to
God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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