Job-like Faith

Job 14-16

I know normally I start off with what was Rhema to me, then I interpret it, Commit to it, and Exalt. This time, while reading Job 14-16, something hit me...Rhema of the character of Job. I've been reading Job for the past few days, and this man was in agony. Here is a man covered in sores, just lost his family, his servants, and his animals..crying out to God, "why?!?". As he is crying out to God, God doesn't answer him. Instead Job has 3 men giving him lengthy explanations as to why this is happening to him. They are almost convince Job has committed some sort of sin to bring this upon himself. However Job is "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1 and Job 1:8). He committed to God wholeheartedly.

Yet here he was, feeling abandoned, confused, and heartache. What did Job do to deserve this? Job questions the reason behind his suffering, all awhile remaining faithful to God, not cursing His name, as Satan said he would in Job 1:11 and 2:5.

Reading his story bring me close to tears, I don't know what I would have done if I felt his pain, his agony, his confusion. It made me realize I need Job-like faith. I WANT to have Job-like faith. Job praised God in times of personal darkness. Through everything he went through his love for God, his fear of God, his faith in God never wavered.

Lord God,
First and foremost, thank You for sending Your son to earth to become that mediator, that arbitrator and connecting bridge between You and I. I also want to thank You for sending your Holy Spirit to us, so that we have a Comforter in times of personal darkness. Lord, I pray that continuously remind me of Job's faith. His faith was sooo strong, even when he was emotionally and physically weak. Teach me Lord to have that type of faith.

Amen

Why I sing

Someone asked the question
Why do we sing?
When we lift our hands to Jesus
What do we really mean?

Someone may be wondering
When we sing our song
At times we maybe crying.
And nothings even wrong

I sing because I'm happy
I sing because I'm free
His eye is on the sparrow
That's the reason why I sing

Glory
Hallelujah
You're the reason why I sing

Glory
Hallelujah
I give the praises to You

Glory
Hallelujah
You're the reason why I sing

And when the song is over
We've all said
Amen
In your heart just keep on singing
And the song will never end

And if somebody asks you
Was it just a show
Lift your hands and be a witness
And tell the whole world
No

And when we cross that river
To study war no more
We will sing our songs to Jesus
The one that we adore

Arbitrator

Job 6-9

Job 9:33

If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay his hand upon us both,

34 someone to remove God's rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.

35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

Job felt he was being punished by God and was seeking someone to arbitrate/mediate between him and God. He needed someone to bring lay a hand on him and God and bring them together. He knew that the mediator would be bale to remove God's rod from him, allowing him to speak to God freely.

Jesus is the Mediator. Jesus proved to be the Arbitrator by dying for us, renewing our fellowship with God. The relationship Adam and Eve had in the garden.

Lord Jesus,
By dying and resurrecting for us, you became the connecting bridge between us and God. Thank You for that. Job knew how much he needed an arbitrator, I pray that those that don't know it yet, soon learn that they need You to mend their relationship with God.

In Your gracious name,
Amen

Fall to the ground in worship

Job 1-Job 5

Job 1:20

Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."

Job 2:9

His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"

10 He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"

Job just had his oxen, sheep, servants, camels AND his 7 sons and 3 daughters taken away from him. Instead of cursing God, Job fell on his knees and praised God. When his wife told him to curse God, job knew that we should not only accept good from God, but also all the bad. Job knew that what had happened was because God allowed it to happen. He knew to accept what God had allowed to happen by praising Him.

It is so easy for us to BLAME God for all the bad things that happen. We only choose to praise God when "good" things happen in our lives. We must remember to rejoice God in good times and bad. God has plans for us, and He allows things to happen for a reason, although it might seem tragic.

Lord,
Teach me to give You praise..not only when things are going good in my life, but to praise You as Job did when times got rough. I am sorry for the times I got angry at You for the times of darkness in my life. Thank You for allowing me to go through times of trials and tribulations. Although at the time, all I could ask was "why"; I now know that it was to build me up, make me stronger, and I thank You for that.

In Your name,
Amen

Rainbow

Genesis 8-Genesis 11

Genesis 9:12

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

After Noah and his family spent 150 days in the ark, God made a covenant between Himself, every living creature on the ark and the generations to come [us]. He said He will never destroy the earth again by the floods of water. God used a rainbow as a sign of His covenant with us.

Every time we see a rainbow peak its way through the clouds, we should remember this covenant. We should rejoice in the mercy God has given us, by creating this covenant. I will rejoice in the mercy God has given me.

Dear Father,
I want to thank You for continuously showing me Your mercy. I pray that I am reminded of this covenant you made with Noah everytime I see a rainbow in the sky. I pray that I don't think of it as an effect of light shining through water in the air, but as a reminder of Your merciful and faithful heart. Thank You

In Your merciful and mighty name,
Amen

Did you forget?

Psalm 50:¹⁶ But God says to the wicked:
“Why bother reciting my decrees
and pretending to obey my covenant?
¹⁷ For you refuse my discipline
and treat my words like trash.
¹⁸ When you see thieves, you approve of them,
and you spend your time with adulterers.
¹⁹ Your mouth is filled with wickedness,
and your tongue is full of lies.
²⁰ You sit around and slander your brother—
your own mother’s son.
²¹ While you did all this, I remained silent,
and you thought I didn’t care.
But now I will rebuke you,
listing all my charges against you.
²² Repent, all of you who forget me,
or I will tear you apart,
and no one will help you.
²³ But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
If you keep to my path,
I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”


Let's not forget our God. His silence does not mean approval.

Mature Faith

Hebrews 5:¹²In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 6:¹Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, ²instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³And God permitting, we will do so.

⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because^b]">[b]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

⁷Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

⁹Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. ¹⁰God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ¹¹We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. ¹²We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Hebrews 5:12-6:12

Approval of men or of God?

Deuteronomy 13; Deuteronomy 14; Deuteronomy 15; Galatians 1

Galatians 1:⁶I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! ⁹As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

¹⁰Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul is shocked at how soon and how easy it was for man to twist the gospel of Jesus. He is warning those that are doing so, that if they continue to do it, they will be cursed. He says that if we are to change any bit of the gospel, we are perverting it, making it no longer the gospel. Paul also states that even if what he says comes off a bit abrasive for mankind, it doesn't matter because he is a servant of Christ and not trying to please man.

We must remember to not twist the one true gospel to how we may want it to be. Once we enter in our own opinions and our own "take" on it, we lose the entire meaning and purpose of the gospel. I will no longer try to win the approval of mankind. I am not a servant to mankind, but a servant of Christ. The one and only Jesus Christ. My actions and words should please Him, for His approval is all that matters.

Lord,

It is so easy for man to pervert Your gospel. I pray for forgiveness, I pray that I don't come to the point of twisting Your gospel for my own personal gain. Jesus, I also pray that You take pleasure in my actions and in my words. I know now that the opinions of man does not matter, if I am pleasing You then I am a servant of yours. I don't want to be a servant of mankind. Thank you for your grace and mercy and for coming to earth to die for us. Because of Your mercy we can be forgiven, because of Your grace, we are blessed. Thank you Lord. In Your merciful name,

Amen

It's your choice: Be Blessed or Be Cursed

Deuteronomy 10; Deuteronomy 11; Deuteronomy 12; Mark 16

Deuteronomy 11^{: 26} “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! ²⁷ You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. ²⁸ But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.

God gave us the choice to be blessed or to be cursed. It is as easy as following the commandments of our Lord or rejecting them. Basically, follow what God has commanded us to do and don't reject what He has commanded us by turning away from him and worshiping other gods.

I know that when God said do not worship other gods, He didn't just mean other religion's gods; He also meant putting things ahead of Him. Whether it's our jobs, school, friends, and addictions. We must commit to making God the god of our lives. Whatever it is we see as important, let's not put that before God and His commandments. Let's choose to be blessed.

Lord Jesus,
I want to put You first in my life. I know that at times, I may focus on other things, but Lord I am willing and ready to make that change. You gave us the choice to be blessed or to be cursed. And Lord, I choose to be blessed. Thank You for that choice.

In Your Holy and Mighty name,
Amen

Words and Wisdom

Exodus 1; Exodus 2; Psalm 88; Luke 21

Luke 21:14But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17All men will hate you because of me. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By standing firm you will gain life.

Jesus is reassuring those that are listening and us as we read this that when the time of persecution and imprisonment comes we should not worry. God will gives us the words and the wisdom that will dumbfound our enemies. Jesus also tells us that even those that are closest to us will persecute us. However, we should not worry, because if we stand strong we will not perish, but be given life.

We must remember to stand firm for our God. We must rememebr that we will be taken care of by Him and will be filled with wisdom and the right words when the time calls for it. Jesus has our backs, when we have His.

Lord,
I know that sometimes we forget to put our trust completely in You. We forget to rely solely on You and what You can do. However Lord, remind us that You are God and You will take care of us. I know that when the time comes and I need to right words to say, You will provide them, and I thank You for that. Lord, I pray to be filled with the words and the wisdom that will dumbfound those that are enemies to me and those that are adversaries to You. Lord when the time comes, take over my tongue and take over my mind. In Your awesome and mighty name,

Amen

REJECTION

Genesis 9; Genesis 10; Genesis 11; Luke 4

Luke 4:24"I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

Sometimes feelings of rejection arise amongst the people that are closest to us.

I should not let that hinder my walk with God,however this should make me want to go out more... jesus was rejected even by those that were from his town, those that knew him growing up. However he did not give up healing, caring, sharing. He died for those that accepted him and those that rejected him.

Lord,
You are who I want to be like. Please give me your will and help me keep going even through rejection. Lord I want to be like you more and more. I love you

Amen

Curses for man

Genesis 3; Genesis 4; Genesis 5; Luke 2

Genesis 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side ^[e] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Knowing good and evil is not a benefit for us. From the beginning of mankind we have been cursed and banished from eating from the tree of life.

We must remember to have faith, to trust in the commandments of God. When we question it, when we go against it, that is when we are cursed. We have been cursed from the beginning of mankind, and no longer have the benefits that Adam and Eve had.

Lord,
I know that I live with many curses, curses that has been in my family from generation to generation. I will no longer question your commandments. I will follow them. I pray that through me, these curses will not continue for generations to come. Lord, thank you for not holding Adam's and Eve's curiosity against us and for giving us the option to end generational curses. I love You.

Amen