December 21, 2009 Job 5 Retreat to the Father

 

 Taken from Debi’s daily Bible study blog:   dkrhemas.wordpress.com

Eliphaz continues to badger him with well meaning advice.  This friend is a considered to be very wise man.   So much of what he says is true, only it does not apply to Job. It distorts the advice he is giving Job.  He can only guess at what to tell this man in misery because he can not possibly know what it is like to walk in his shoes and know the intensity of Job’s pain or the true condition of his heart. He is only assuming.  My heart goes out to Job.  His grief is only deepened.  I imagine that when he initially saw his friends arriving, that he probably felt a bit of hope that they would bring some answers to him.  Yes, they brought answers but it was not at all what Job needed to hear, but to the contrary only added a new depth to his despair. 

When it comes right down to it, God alone is the one that we can trust one hundred percent of the time.  Retreating to Him and His Word are our true security.

Psalm 121    I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help….He will not allow your foot to be moved….The Lord is your keeper.

We must keep lifting up our eyes to Him.  Others will often fail us but God never will.

December 20, 2009 Job 4 Painful Counsel

Taken from Debi’s daily Bible study blog:   dkrhemas.wordpress.com

Of the three friends who have came to Job, Eliphaz now begins to give him advice. Initially we could come to the opinion that they were incredible friends from what we read in chapter two of this book. When they heard about his misfortune they sat with him for seven days and nights, not saying a word because they saw that his grief was very great. Probably their unspoken words were the greatest words they spoke. It showed their love, concern and sacrifice of time for a friend in need. But now in this chapter Eliphaz’s words more than likely deepen the pit of despondency that Job is already in. Eliphaz’s words: Vs. 7 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off? Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of His anger they are consumed.”

 He automatically assumes that Job is suffering because of his sin. He tells Job that he had a vision and heard a voice the night that implied that Job was not righteous. This message and vision was obviously not from God because we already have read God’s opinion of Job in chapter two (“there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil).

 We have no right to judge another. Matthew 7:11 Judge not that ye be not judged. Well meaning friends may not give us correct advice. Sometimes their words may even drive the stake of pain even deeper into our hearts. They may even claim with great conviction that their advice is right. Eliphaz was way off base. Obviously the voice he heard speaking in the night did not come from God. While I was in college I dated a guy that said God told him that I was the one he should marry. But after a few more dates I knew that he definitely was not to be my husband. Many are taken in by well meaning people.

The best way to become a trustworthy friend is to first become an intimate friend with God. He must become our guide. He will give us the words to speak or not to speak. He can help us to weigh every word that we utter on the scales of His approval.

December 19, 2009 Job 3 The Diamond

Job has finally come to a place of total discouragement. He expresses with very deep agony his feelings and desire that he had never been born and wishing that he would just be allowed to die. Most all of us will come to some place in our lives that we feel that there is no hope, no remedy. Many take desperate measures to try to ease their pain: alcohol, drugs, unhealthy eating habits, withdrawal from others and even suicide. What a great lesson for us today to be reminded that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. We must keep looking up. In the end this story eventually brings great glory to God. It has taught millions of God’s children to trust in the Father. It is teaching me and reminding me this very day of that great lesson which is so easy to forget. But Job couldn’t see the end.

Our main purpose in life is not happiness, it is to glorify God. Many people are watching us. We are teaching lessons to others every day of our lives by our words, actions, reactions and attitudes. God wants the lessons we teach to bring great glory to Him. God is chiseling away at this rough cut diamond that we are. The chisel hurts and we want to push away from it. But we must welcome that painful chiseling for it is the only way that we can become that beautiful diamond for him. As He is working on us, we begin to reflect His glory. The diamond that we are becoming as we allow God to work in our lives will cause others to see His reflection in us.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all will things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Concerning this thing I (Paul) pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

What shape is your diamond in today? Lean into the great Chiseler.

December 18, 2009 Job 2 Conformed to His Will

God reminded Satan that Job held fast to his integrity in spite of the horrors that he had just faced. Satan challenges God that Job will curse Him if he is physically afflicted. God allows it but not to the point of death. Job is then covered with painful boils from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Even his wife tells him to “curse God and die”. She asks him with the same words that God used: “Do you still hold fast to your integrity?” Perhaps Job’s wife had become very bitter over the loss of their children and possessions. Obviously she was in a different spiritual place than her husband. Job answered his wife, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Vs. 10)

 That verse speaks volumes about Job’s spiritual maturity. If all that happened to us would we sin with our lips? Are we in a spiritual condition that we would hold fast to our integrity? Here we have laid out before us the great message of this book: We must trust God through the good and the bad times even though we don’t understand. We have heard that often asked question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” We may never know. But if through the lowest times of our lives we can trust Him completely, it may be that like Job, great good will come from it. His example is our great teacher for the times that we too must face extreme adversity. Most run from it, fight it, or get bitter at God. Marriages too easily dissolve. They want the easy way out. Children are allowed to run their own lives because it is just too much trouble and interrupts our own agenda to have to deal with the intensity of solving the problem and break through to that child’s heart. We tend to turn our backs on offenders instead of trying to find a solution to mend relationships. Truthfully, many are like Job’s wife. That deep relationship has never been developed between them and God, so when adversity comes they react humanly instead of in a Christ like way. Our focus must be upward and not on circumstances around us. As we focus on doing that we begin to know Him.

Philippians 3:10 That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.

 He may call us too, into the fellowship of His sufferings. He wants to use our lives and our example to teach our children and others around us about His power and His grace. Jesus was conformed to His Father’s will even to His death on the cross. Are we really conformed to His will?

December 17, 2009 Job 1 The Test of Faith

Taken from Debi’s daily Bible study blog:    dkrhemas.wordpresss.com

Vs. 5 So it was when the days of feasting had run their course that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.

In that day the father was the priest of the family. Job took his responsibility very seriously. He sacrificed and prayed for each one individually (seven sons and three daughters). What a challenge to each of us as parents and grandparents, willing to sacrificially and diligently pray for our dear ones.

 Job was the godliest man on earth: Vs. 8 ….there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil (God’s description of him). I wonder how God would describe us. The extent of his devotion for God is revealed after he loses 11,000 animals, many servants and all ten of his children. Vs. 20-22 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head (which was a customary way of showing grief in that period of history); and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

What a powerful lesson for us. It is inevitable: we will face suffering in this life. God has given us a model to follow in our suffering, in this powerful book of the Bible. Job was ready for the test. His heart was prepared because he lived a holy life before God. Are our hearts ready?

December 16, 2009 Esther 10 Speak Peace to All

Taken from Debi’s daily Bible study blog:    dkrhemas.wordpress.com

 This incredible little book in the Bible ends with a short three verse chapter.

 Vs. 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

 Esther and Mordecai, two complete unknowns living humble and godly lives in their village, became the leaders of their land. They saved their people. They stood strong. They risked their very lives for others. Let us also take this wonderful challenge found in the last words of this chapter, “seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.” Pray for, serve, encourage, uplift and teach the things of God by word and deed to those around us. Seek the good of our people. Take the challenge to “speak peace” to everyone around us. To that little one, that teen, make it your goal to speak in peace, even in the correcting times.

 Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how to answer every man.

Proverbs 31:26 She opens her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness. That may seem impossible. Yes we may get angry and loose our temper.

Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not; let no the sun go down upon your wrath.

People and circumstances will make us angry. But what is important is what we do with that anger. Usually we lash out at those around us. God’s answer is to not carry that wrath unnecessarily but to seek forgiveness quickly from those we have injured with our wrath. Instead of it being the norm and a daily downfall, let us allow Him to work in our lives so that we too can come to the place in our lives that we are constantly “speaking peace” to those around us and that when we do fail we are quick to repent and seek forgiveness. Would others describe you as a person of peace? Could they say about you, “She never complains or gossips,” or “I never see her mad,” or “She always has a kind or encouraging word for everyone.” Ask God to make you that person; to have that reputation; to become a messenger of God’s healing and love to all you encounter. In your humble and seemingly obscured place in this life, God can use you in a mighty way to touch the lives of many around you.

My husband and I have an empty nest now. I am a work in progress. God is teaching me constantly that I must be kind to my husband. I must ask his forgiveness. I must forgive him. I need to try to encourage him every single day. I want to seek good for my husband. I want to speak peace to him. I want God to find me faithful. essenger of God’s healing and love to all you encounter. In your humble and seemingly obscured place in this life, God can use you in a mighty way to touch the lives of many around you. My husband and I have an empty nest now. I am a work in progress. God is teaching me constantly that I must be kind to my husband. I must ask his forgiveness. I must forgive him. I need to try to encourage him every single day. I want to seek good for my husband. I want to speak peace to him. I want God to find me faithful.

December 15, 2009 Esther 9 Celebration Feast

 Taken from Debi’s daily Bible study blog:   dkrhemas.wordpress.com

Vs. 1  On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them. 

On that same day after the victory, the king asked Esther if she had another petition.  She asked that her original request continue, that her people would continue to have permission to protect themselves from their enemies (Vs. 11-14).

Vs. 22 “….the Jews had rest from their enemies as the month which was turned form sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday.”

 It became the famous Feast of Purim.  Vs. 27 The Jews established…..that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year……that these days of Purim be observed among the Jews and that the memory of them should not perish among the descendants. 

 1 John 4:4  You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.  

 It matters not that our enemy is looming over us in a way that looks like sure defeat on our part.  We have the promises of His Word like this one in 1 John.  Our Captain in greater!!!  He is the Overcomer!

 How very important it is to establish our own personal days of “Feasts of Celebrations”.  Our loved ones need to hear and be reminded of the great victories that He has performed in our lives; the magnificent answers to prayers; the painful valleys He has taken you through to bring you to a higher plain. Take those opportunities at Easter, Christmas, birthdays, birthdays of our new birth in Christ and so many others special events, to tell the stories again and again.  Share your testimony.  Tell them the many stories of how God has worked through your generations to bring you to where you are today.  Perhaps you are the first to start that Godly generation. Encourage them to take that “baton” from you and “run the race” for Him.  You could journal, write a book or make a movie to record these wonderful stories so that they will often be reminded of the powerful and wonderful God that we serve.  Get ready to feast!

December 14, 2009 Esther 8 The Reversal

Taken from Debi’s daily Bible study blog:  dkrhemas.wordpress.com

Esther continued her mission with great passion. She did not stop. She again pleads before the king to take further steps to undo the wicked plan of Haman. Vs. 3, 6 Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman. “For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”

It wasn’t enough that she and her cousin, Mordecai were safe. She greatly loved her people, the Jews. The king solved the problem by letting Esther and Mordecai write another decree to counteract the one that Haman wrote. The Jews would be allowed to protect their lives, fight back and kill those who tried to take their lives. (Decrees could not be revoked once written but they could be invalidated by another one.) The result was a monumental victory for the Jews. Vs. 16 The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor.

The king turned over Haman’s estate to Esther who then put gave Mordecai in charge of it. Mordecai takes Haman’s place as prime minister of the land. This was a man who was to be hung on the gallows.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all you heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity.

 His plan and thoughts for us are peace, a future and a hope. He wants to fill our lives as He did for the Jews, with “light, gladness, joy and honor.” Do you have great passion for the mission to which God has called you? Keep speaking to God, fall at His feet, and implore Him with tears as Esther did to the king. We cannot live in a selfish world, satisfied that all is going well for us when those loved ones (and our nation) are in the depths of despair. Oh, what God can do with one man, one woman who is determined to make a difference.

December 13, 2009 Esther 7 Prepared Hearts

Taken from Debi’s daily Bible study blog:   dkrhemas.wordpresss.com

Esther is prepared to present her petition to the king. The banquet is ready; the time is right; her heart has been prepared through fasting. What a turn of events. When the king found out about the awful plot at Esther’s banquet he sentenced Haman to death on the same gallows that Haman was going to use for Mordecai.

We too must prepare our hearts to approach our King. Psalm 66:18-20 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me! God is able to completely turn the tables of the situations in our lives as He chooses. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the enemy. We see ungodly people who seem to prosper and apparently never suffer for their evil-doing. We must be careful not to let that discourage us.

Psalm 1:6 The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Proverbs 24: 1-2, 19-20 Do not be envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; for their heart devises violence, and their lips talk of troublemaking. Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the wicked; for there will be no prospect for the evil man; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

 Perhaps you are at a place that you need to come before the Lord and implore Him to have mercy; to deliver you or your loved ones trapped in devastating situations or circumstances. Have we paved the way in our hearts for Him to hear us and attend to our prayer?

December 12, 2009 Esther 6 Turn the Tide

The  of book Esther is so incredibly gripping!! It is one of the greatest stories ever told. I can’t imagine any movie having a greater or more surprising plot that this story. Oh, the journey through the entire Bible is unbelievable! Nothing touches me with more intensity and excitement than His Word.

In the very first verse of this chapter the tide turns as we see how “God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform!” He causes the king’s sleeplessness; He creates in him a desire to have the records of the Persian Empire read to him; He orchestrates the specific reading to be the very passage where Mordecai saves the king’s life; He times it perfectly so that Haman in the one immediately available to carry out the king’s orders to reward Mordecai; He sees to it that the enemy’s plan is foiled and in its place, a great surprise.

The hearts of the evil can so easily be deceived. Their vision is so inward. They see only what they want to see. They are so easily trapped into a continuous downward spiraling. Father, keep our vision upward. Let us see only what You want us to see. Protect us from being deceived by the enemy. Let us be captured by the whirlwind of grace that places us and keeps us on that “higher ground”. We may feel that we are surrounded and in apparent possible defeat from the enemy like Esther and her people felt, but let us hold out and wait upon You because You are the God of great surprises!! Overnight You can turn the tide for us!!! For You alone are all powerful, all seeing, all knowing. You control every aspect of our lives. How can we not but trust You. Thank you for this astounding reminder in Your Word of Your great sovereignty. Use it to stir in our hearts a renewed faith and trust in You.