Job 14 - An Abundant Life with God

An Abundant Life with God

In our study yesterday, the best thing we saw Job do was cry out to God to show him if he had sinned. That was great! He humbly realized that if there was something he had done wrong, he would call upon God to show him. But there is a problem here saints. As we move on into chapter 14 (keep in mind that once upon a time these words were not broken up into chapters and verses) Job kept on talking. Hmmm…There’s the problem. 

He was making assumptions about God and his plans for mankind. He thought that there was more hope for a tree to live again than a man. What’s up with that? Can you imagine feeling this way? Unfortunately billions on the planet feel like this. They think of God as a hard slave driver and a cruel Judge who wants to grind a man down into the dust until he can take no more. Nothing could be further from the truth saints!

In our chapter today, Job thinks that there is no hope for an unclean thing. He thinks that once a man dies, that’s it – it’s all over but the crying. Did you notice how the chapter begins in verse 1 and ends in verse 20 with the same despairing words? Job says that man is born for a short time and that time is allotted to trouble, grief, mourning and suffering. But that not’s what the Bible teaches us, is it? There’s so much here, I ask the Lord to help give me the utterance to bring out what He wants us to see in this today, in Jesus name! Amen!

While it is true that the life of a man, even if lived to its fullness, is very brief compared to that of eternity’s endless clock. And Jesus told us that in this life we would have tribulation. But when He said that, He also gave a word of encouragement, saying that we should take courage because He had overcome the world (through His death, burial and resurrection). Praise God. But Job didn’t know this at the time. What if he would have just stopped talking and waited on the Lord to answer him like we thought he was ready to do yesterday?

God could have started talking a lot sooner and given him the answers he needed. But oh no. He had to go on talking. Actually, we have another 24 chapters, (yikes!) after today’s study before God speaks to Job. These guys, Job and his friends, keep going on and on for another 24 chapters when they should have long since closed their mouths and opened their ears to hear the wise words of Almighty God on the matter, amen? Is there a lesson we can learn right here? I believe you get my point. J Two ears – one mouth. Hmmmmm.

How many times have we gone on and on, ranting and carrying on about our circumstances, completely blocking out the blessing God had in store for us? How long have we spent focusing on the question and babbling on and on before we must have caused God to look at us and say, “When will you keep silent so I can teach you something here My child?”

Proverbs 1:23-33

Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would have none of my counsel  and despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies. For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.”

Friends, let’s keep something very important in mind as we study. God is a good God! Hallelujah! He wants to give good gifts to His children. Consider strongly what He (Wisdom) was saying in the passage above. When a person doesn’t want it (His wisdom and correction) they will get what they have coming. And God will not heed those who want to do things their own way. He knows when a person has really humbled themselves in His sight and prepared their heart to wait on Him and become willing to listen to Him. Does it look like Job was really ready to listen in our chapter today? Hardly! He kept going on and on, making assumptions about God and His intentions toward mankind. Job was thinking that this life is all there is, and trees have more hope than people. But that is simply not true! Thank God for that! 

Let’s look at some uplifting words from God that can assure us that He has a great desire to give good things to His kids (us!)…

Matthew 7:11

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Luke 11:13

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

If Jesus said these things, they have to be true. Yes, a man’s days are brief. And man is full of evil because of the fall – that is, until they receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Job thought there was no hope for something unclean (like a man), but look at the blood of Jesus and what that means for every human that would ever live, and we see something very dirty turned into something as white as snow…

Isaiah 1:16-20

“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor;  defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Why did I pull an Old Testament verse to show the cleanness of Jesus? Because back in Job’s day, even though Jesus had not yet physically come to the earth and gone to the cross yet, a man could get right with God. You see, with God, it is all about the heart. The people who loved God truly back then would be tucked away in Abraham’s bosom as the scriptures say, until Jesus would come forth and complete the sacrifice required to make every repentant sinner clean – hallelujah! So there was just as much hope for Job as there is for us today as we live within the confines of the New Testament, glory to God – thank You Jesus! A person needs to go to God and let Him tell them what He knows about their problem. They need to allow God to do the cleansing work in a man’s heart by His Spirit. We cannot clean ourselves up. Look at this in Zechariah…

Zechariah 4:6b

‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.

It’s like going fishing for souls. The Lord does all the work, really. He is the One who catches them – using us as His fishing nets. Then He, and only He is the One who can clean them. Glory to God. The Lord does all the hard work.

The next thing we see Job saying is that God is the one who controls the number of our days. But as we have looked at previously, God does not control our lives or the number of our days outside of our will and actions. He has however established a limit for us as we will see in the following verse…

Genesis 6:3

And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

Some lived a lot longer than that, others didn’t make it that far. You can study that on your own. It is God’s intention to satisfy us with long life…

Psalm 91:16

With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

Many people die far sooner than they have to for a host of reasons. Many were not listening to the warning of the Holy Spirit (their conscience) and went somewhere they were not supposed to be and tragically their life ended far beyond their time. Others die of a sickness that came straight from the pit of hell because they did not receive the healing that Jesus has already provided. There are many reasons, but no one has to die before they have finished their work on the earth that the Lord had planned for them to do. Was this God’s will or plan for someone to die prematurely? Absolutely not. He wants us to live long, be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth…

Genesis 1:28

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Did God ever change His mind about this for Job, or for you and me? No way – no how!!! He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He doesn’t tell us one thing in the beginning and then change His mind somewhere down the road. He is consistent and faithful – firm to the end. Job didn’t think he had much of a choice about anything in this life. Again, this is not true saints. When we live according to the word and will of God, we can have such a fulfilling and abundant life that others will just have to know how we are doing it. They will marvel at us, even as we bear fruit in our older age…

Psalm 92

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night, on an instrument of ten strings, on the lute, and on the harp, with harmonious sound. For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. A senseless man does not know, nor does a fool understand this. When the wicked spring up like grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is that they may be destroyed forever.

But You, Lord, are on high forevermore. For behold, Your enemies, O Lord, for behold, Your enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies; my ears hear my desire on the wicked who rise up against me.

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Does that sound like someone looking forward to a life of drudgery? I think not – amen?! And look at what Jesus Himself said…

John 10:10

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

And let’s look at some more about how God longs to give us a good life while we are here…

Psalm 36:5

Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.

Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart.

Unlike despairing Job, the psalmist knows the lovingkindness of the Lord and understands that He satisfies us with abundance. In fact the Bible also says…

Psalm 65:9-13

You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it. You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth.

You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with grain; they shout for joy, they also sing.

Sadly, our friend Job had lost his focus, like we have already discussed in our study of this book. He had allowed satan to have full reign of his mind, henceforth his thoughts had turned to nothing but doom and despair over life. Instead of praising the God he had served for so long, even while not understanding the situation, he had given place to the devil and changed his focus. God always wanted Job to have an abundant life. And he had been very prosperous for a very long time.

But when trouble came, he removed his focus from the goodness of God and became angry and bitter without fully understanding what was really going on. God didn’t have it in His heart to slay this man. He didn’t want him to be in the dark about what was really happening. But Job had not asked, nor did he get quiet enough to listen. Look at what the Bible tells us to do…

Matthew 7:7-8

 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Don’t you wonder how many times our Father in heaven has looked at us and said, “Just ask Me. I will tell you what you need to know. Let me help you. Quit trying to figure it out on your own. I have an abundant and joy filled life all planned out for you, but you have to be quiet and listen so I can speak to you.” I remember that as a child I had no supervision. My mom and dad divorced and mom became preoccupied with her own life. So at an early age I had to learn how to survive on my own, or so I thought. As I grew older it never occurred to me to ask anyone for help. I thought I would just have to ‘buck up’ and figure it out on my own. I did not realize that it was OK to ask someone for help. I had always heard from others that a person is not supposed to ask for help – they are supposed to manage things on their own. Another lie from the pit!

In the heat of the battle, I became desperate enough to ask Almighty God to help me. And He came through, shining like the sun on a dark and dry land, the barren desert of my soul – hallelujah! He kept encouraging me to go forward – reminding me that He had good things in store for me. I never knew until recently because of all the religious junk I had accumulated over several years that God really did want to bless my life and prosper me in every way.

Religion teaches us that to be like Jesus we have to be poor and sad, like a man of sorrows. Jesus was only a man of sorrows for a very brief moment as He took on the sin of the world. He did not walk around this earth with a frown on His face all the time. The joy of the Lord was His strength. He was a happy guy. Why do you think all the kids would flock to Him? They don’t run to the lap of a grumpy old guy, do they? LOL! 

Abraham had an abundant life. God had given King David and King Saul abundance. There are so many scriptures we can comb through to prove that God wants only good for us. He wants us rich in our heart, mind, soul and our bank account. How else could we be a blessing to others? How could we spread the gospel from one end of the globe to another if we had no money – the currency of the earth? People just don’t make sense when they talk about foolish things they have picked up over the years from people who did not even know God or what is really contained in the Bible. They have taken on lies as truth, not realizing how wonderful God really is and how much He wants to give to His children.

But we have to be willing to do it His way. And the crazy thing is, even though many think it is a ‘drag’ to be a Christian,  I am a witness that I have had more joy and fun since I surrendered to Jesus than all the days of my wandering life before that, combined – hallelujah!

Job is crying out like a hopeless fool in this chapter when he really needed to get quiet and see what God had in mind for him. But like all of us, I guess he just wasn’t ready to get out of his pity pot and see what God had to say about it, was he? How long it takes each of us will differ. This is why we have no place or part in judging another when they are walking through a trial. If we are smart, we will know where to draw the boundary lines and get out of the Lord’s was so He can contend with people directly without our interference, amen?!

Let’s hang in there for the next 24 chapters until we get to hear God speak. That will be wonderful indeed. But in the meantime, guess what saints? We have wonderful things that the Lord wants to show us in each and every one of these chapters.  That’s why these conversations were recorded for all time and history. The Lord had a purpose. His word is so deep we could go ten thousand different directions in a chapter and still not uncover all the treasure that is hidden therein – glory to His name forever. Aren’t we thankful that we have a good God who loves us so much and wants to give us a truly abundant life? Hallelujah!

Psalm 16

Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.” As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”

Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
Nor take up their names on my lips.

O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance.

I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

If we keep our focus on Jesus, no hell that we experience on this earth in this life will be able to overtake us. Isn’t that great news?!

Questions:

What did Job think about the summation of a man’s life on this planet?

What was his opinion of God’s attitude toward mankind?

What is the truth about the life God has planned for us?

What lies have you believed in the past about God’s intentions for you?  

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

There are three main points to consider from today’s study…

We can make every minute of our brief time on earth matter greatly in the Lord

God has great plans to prosper His children

Jesus came to give us an abundant life

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for giving us life and everything we need to do everything we need to for the kingdom work while we are here on earth. Father, Your paths drip with abundance and no devil in hell can take that away from those who will put their trust in You. Lord, I desire to have all that You want to give me for Your glory and Your purpose on the earth. I believe You are good and all Your plans for me are good. Show me the path that You have for me Lord, and with Your help I will walk that path, hand in hand with You. Thank You Lord for all You are and all You do! In Jesus name! Amen! 

Are you prepared to receive all that God wants to give you?  

And God Said… You fill in the blanks. 

Proverbs 10:22

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.