KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Friday, January 11, 2019
Chapters: Job 28-31
Message: Trial of Your Faith
Hello My Friend,
There is this law firm that only goes after big companies, their agenda is not for the people as they say, rather to get these well known and very wealthy companies to pay big money to, am I going to say it, scummy people, and they are very good at it. Do not get me wrong, there are some very good lawyers who truly are there to help people who have been falsely accused, and need defending, but let me tell you, they are few and far between. You know, as Christians we have a defense lawyer, one who is not afraid to stand up to the scummy prosecutor, just ready to take everything we have in an effort to mock us for our faith. Our lawyer is Jesus, and He defends us against the biggest prosecutor of all, Satan, and He pleads our case before the Judge of all, God. “Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – I Corinthians 1:6-8.
“Who shall also confirm you unto the end,” Confirm; To fix more firmly; to settle or establish. How awesome is it that we can stand before God, be blameless, and established, having put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour? Not everyone can say that. The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing comes from the Word of God, perhaps that is the reason so many are not saved? We need the Word of God to even know the truth about Jesus, otherwise, it is just hearsay, and who can know the truth unless we get it from the actual source. Job did not have the Bible to read to find the answers to his questions about God, all he knew was that he was being falsely accused and had no one to defend him, he wonders if that kind ot wisdom can even be found.
“There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen: The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?” – Job 28:7-12.
“and where is the place of understanding?”We may not always understand God’s ways, but we can get a good understanding of how we are to approach Him. As Job continues he realizes exactly where wisdom comes from and how we get this understanding. “God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” – Job 28:23-28.
“the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;” Fearing God is not being afraid of Him, although one should be if they are against everything He stands for, fearing God is respecting Him, being in awe of Him, giving Him first place in our lives. Again, we may not always understand His ways, but He does give us enough wisdom to know that when we respect and acknowledge Him we will walk away from evil, and good things will come from it. Solomon actually said these very same things, well after Job was around. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” – Proverbs 3:5-7.
Wisdom; Natural instinct. When we are going through difficulties our first natural instinct is to find the quickest solution to the problem, then seek God’s help. When God’s help seems to never come, or we are too impatient to wait for it, we tend to get depressed and feel hopeless. So, here is Job, sad, confused, reminiscing about the days God blessed him, wishing things were like they use to be. “Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;” – Job 29:2-5.
“Oh that I were as in months past,” I do not know how many times I have done this myself? The Christian life is indeed one of great blessings, but it also comes with a kind of curse because every time something bad happens we start to look for the reason behind it rather than the God who has the ability to get us through it. Now, Job feels like he is in a courtroom, defending himself this whole time to no avail. The prosecutors biggest ploy to get one to plead guilty is doubt, and now Job wonders if there was something he really did to cause all this.
“I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure. If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;” – Job 3:1-4,23-26.
“If I beheld the sun when it shined,” We do have the tendency to forget to acknowledge that God is the source for all things, our bank accounts, our provisions, jobs, possessions, the splendor of a beautiful sky, especially when we are being afflicted. Job continues, one final plea. “If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom: Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door? Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book. Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.” – Job 31:33-36.
“Oh that one would hear me!” Oh, someone does hear you Job, and He hears all of His faithful. Job just wishes for a fair trial. We really are not as bad as we make ourselves to be, it is Satan who prosecutes us, and it is always for our faith. Unless we are conceded, arrogant, and completely self centered we do in fact acknowledge God more than we thing, and are concerned for the welfare of others before ourselves. The truth is, God never stops blessing us, if we are saved, we are His forever, preserved with eternal life and nothing can change that. We must understand that the second we received Christ as our Saviour the only thing that is on trial here is our faith, and since we have our lawyer by our side we cannot lose. “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” – I Peter 1:6-9. Praise God!
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.” – Job 30:9-10.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for the life that You have given me and the path You have chosen for me. I do not always understand the steps You have me take, but I do understand that You are with me in all of them. I know that I mess up and make some wrong decisions because we I just do not understand or are too impatient to wait for You to answer me. Lord, lead me and guide me, give me the strength I need to face the trial of my faith, let me not look to the right or left, but straight toward You. I know that as long as I do that than I will receive your praise and honor. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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