Job 29-31 Entitlement

No entitlement.  Many men, when beaten down by circumstances, will sooner or later end up feeling entitled to sin because of their circumstances.  Things have gone poorly, so “I deserve…”

 

Job is crying out to God, speaking of how he’s made righteousness his byword.  In the middle of it all, he says, “But I made an agreement with my eyes not to look with desire at a girl.”  Job was still married, yet his wife was encouraging him to curse God so he could die and get out of his misery!  Still he didn’t feel entitled to sin ”even a little”, with only his thought or his eyes, or with his body.

 

My commentary said about that verse:  “Lust is the first step toward sin, and sin is the first step toward death.  It is one thing to see and admire an attractive person, but it is quite something else to look for the purpose of lusting in the heart … While sin in the heart is not as destructive as sin actually committed, it is the first step toward the act; and you never know where a polluted imagination will lead you.  Furthermore, God above looks down and sees both our actions and ‘the thoughts and intents of the heart’; and He will judge both.”

 

In the middle of incredible suffering, Job fights off lust, and entitlement.

 

Father, I hate it when I find myself falling for Satan’s lies, and entitlement is probably his biggest lie.  Please remind me that, like lust, it can be the first step toward sin.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Job 24-28 Knowledge vs. Wisdom

“Those who fight against the light do not know God’s ways or stay in His paths … They want nothing to do with the light … God may let these evil people feel safe, but He is watching their ways.”  Job’s friends had been sure that they had wisdom, but were soon to find out how little they did know of God.

 

Job talked about their need for wisdom.  He described how greed can lead people to work slavishly for gold and gems, yet they won’t put that much effort into gaining God’s wisdom.

 

Job also said wisdom can’t be bought.  “Man doesn’t comprehend the price of wisdom and thinks he can get it cheaply,” my commentary said.  Job knew that the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and God had described Job that way.  “Fear of the Lord is not a fear that paralyzes, but one that energizes.  When you fear the Lord, you obey His commands, walk in His ways and serve him.  You are loyal to Him and give Him wholehearted service … You depart from evil,” my commentary added.  “The better we know Christ and the more we become like Him, the more we will walk in wisdom and understand the will of the Lord.

 

Father, I know that I cannot attain wisdom on my own.  I need You to sow me what is wise and what is not.  And the more You show me about Yourself, the more I realize just how little I know of You.  Keep peeling back the layers and continue revealing Yourself to me, Father.  I want to know You more.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Job 22-23 Job KNOWS God's Sovereignty

I read a lot today about God’s sovereignty.  Even though Job couldn’t see God during his “furnace experience,” he understood about God’s sovereignty and said, “But God knows the way I take, and when He has tested me, I will come out like gold.  Job wasn’t bragging.  He simply knew that God’s tests make us stronger and purer if we submit to His will, which Job as doing.  “If we resist His will, the furnace experience will only burn us up and make us bitter,” my commentary said. 

 

It continued, “Those who resist or deny the sovereignty of God rob themselves of peace and courage.  There is no attribute of God more comforting to His children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty … On the other had, there is no doctrine most hated by worldlings.  Why?  Because the human heart is proud and does not want to submit to Almighty God.”

 

I also read, “Job 23:14 must be contrasted with Jeremiah 27:11, where God states, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”   Job had said, “He will do to me what He said He would do, and He has many plans like this.”  Putting the two together, God has many plans for us – plans that He knows will prosper us and not harm us, plants that will give us hope and a future.  Our part is those plans is to trust Him and remain faithful, knowing that in His sovereignty God can and will bring them all to pass.

 

Father, I’m reminded of an illustration You once brought my way.  You and I are on a bicycle built for two.  Your job is to steer and my job is simply to keep pedaling and to watch in amazement all the places You are taking me.  That requires me to acknowledge Your sovereignty.  Help me to believe that all the more every day.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Job 18-21 Amazing Insight Surely Given By God

Despite the horrible attempts of his friends to get Job to confess to sins that did not exist in his life, Job looks to God.  He still simply wants a chance to state his case.  Yet God still withholds His answer as He proves to Satan that Job is a righteous man even when God withholds His blessings.

 

Job again shows amazing insight and faith in 19:25-27.  “I know that my Defender lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.  Even after my skin has been destroyed, in my flesh I WILL see God.  I will see Him MYSELF.  I will see Him with my very own eyes.  How my heart wants that to happen!”

 

Amazing, amazing!

 

Father, Job didn’t yet know about Jesus Christ or resurrection, yet it’s clear that You had revealed some of Your plan to him at some point.  Thank You for giving me a Defender as well.  I’m glad I know what Job knew, and how my heart wants that to happen, too!

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Job 15-17 A Different Theology Than His Friends Had

Eliphaz couldn’t believe Job’s words.  He and the others had to prove Job wrong, for “their own peace of mind was at stake … If Job was not a sinner being punished by God, then the three friends’ understanding of God was all wrong.  But that meant they had no protection against personal suffering themselves!  If obedience is not a guarantee of health and wealth, then what happened to Job might happen to them!  God forbid! … If everybody believed as Job did – that God does not always punish the wicked and reward the godly – then what motive would people have for obeying God? … This is the devil’s theology, the very thing that God was using Job to refute!  If people serve God only for what they get out of it, then they are not serving God at all; they are only serving themselves by making God their servant,” my commentary said.

 

It continued: 

“Job wanted a lawyer to plead his case before God and convince him that he was innocent … God’s people don’t need that kind of intercession … The Christian believer has this heavenly Advocate in Jesus Christ.  As our interceding High Priest, Christ gives us the conquering grace we need when we are tempted and tested.  If we fail, then He is our Advocate to forgive us and restore us when we confess our sins to Him.”

 

The world seems to think it’s all the worse when Christians sin, probably because they think Christians are supposing themselves to be holier than most and therefore are falling farther when they fail.  In the incredible mystery of God’s grace, though, when we fail, we are forgiven and restored when we confess our sins to Him.  He even comes looking for us to restore us, so great is His love.

 

Thank You, Father, for that grace and forgiveness.  Satan wants so much for us to believe the lie that we are the worst of the worst if we sin as Christians and that You will come after us for causing dishonor to Your Name.  Instead, You gain glory by forgiving us and restoring us!  Don’t let me listen to Satan’s lies.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Job 13-14 Begging God To Communicate

Job’s friends have spent all their time trying to convince Job to just admit his sins and ask God for forgiveness.  Job has lived an upright life, however, and he says, “I want to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.”  (Be careful what you wish for, Job!)  Job knows that God is just and fair and his integrity cries out for an opportunity to speak with God.  “Even if God kills me, I have hope in Him …This is my salvation.  The wicked cannot come before Him.”

 

Job feels cut off from God.  Because he trusts God, he’d rather risk seeing God and dying in order to plead his case than continuing to suffer for some unknown reason.  He begs God, “God, please give me these two things … Take Your punishment away from me … then call me and I will answer, or let me speak, and You answer … Show me my wrong and my sin.”  Job pleas for communication with God.  He truly feels cut off.

 

As despair sets in, Job decides that if God isn’t going to grant him an audience, then God would be better to leave him alone in his few remaining sad days:  “Lord, do You need to watch me like this?”  He even feels like a laborer having to “put in his time”.  Life has become so burdensome for him.

 

New hope flares up and Job says, “I will wait until my change comes.  You will call, and I will answer You; You will desire the creature Your hands have made.  Then You will count my steps, but You will not keep track of my sin.  My wrongs will be closed up in a bag, and You will cover up my sin.”

 

Father, there’s great hope in these words:  “You will call, and I will answer You; You will desire the creature Your hands have made.”  Job had spent a lifetime seeking You, learning about You, and obeying You.  I want to do the same.  Reveal Yourself to me even more.  Help me to know You, and once You’ve shown me truths about Yourself and about my own life, help me to obey You.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Job 8-10 -- Too Early On The Scene To Connect The Dots

Wow!  Such great stuff in these chapters!

 

Job struggled, understanding absolutely God’s sovereignty and His justice, but unable to reconcile that with his own need for mercy.  He didn’t yet know that God would handle that on the cross.

 

I had an acquaintance on Facebook last night who took issue with a photo someone else had posted that I decided to share.  The crux of his issue was that I had “judged the President’s soul” by sharing the photo that included the phrase “his soul is black”.  I privately messaged him, then removed the photo and instead clearly stated that I was not judging his soul but his actions.

 

It always seems that those who cry out “Don’t judge!” the loudest are also the ones most in fear of an unfavorable decision.  Here, Job wishes he could go to court and take his case there to prove he was innocent in that case.  But he says he’d need someone to make peace between him and God.  And Jesus would be that Peacemaker. 

 

I will gladly say, “Judge me!” and I would then follow with “I am the worst sinner.  I’ve been condemned and deserve nothing but death.  God agreed.  He then allowed His Son to be killed for my sins, even though He had never sinned.  And because God is a just God, He can now no longer condemn me, for in doing so, He would be unjust to His own Son, saying in effect that His death had been for nothing.

 

My commentary said, “Job could not understand what God was doing, and it was important the he not understand.  Had he known … he could have simply sat back and waited … Job was bankrupt and sick, and all he could give to the Lord was his suffering by faith; but that is just what God wanted in order to silence the devil.”

 

God knows what He’s doing.  We don’t.  End of discussion.

 

Father, thank You for showing me again this vital link between Your sovereignty, Your justice, and Your love and mercy.  I want no other Judge but You.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford