January 15, 2021 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Friday, January 15, 2021
Chapters: Job 40-42
Message: Resting In Jesus

Hello My Friend,

The Book of Job is not only one of my favorite books of the Old Testament, it is my lifeline book. Every saved, born again Christian has a verse that they hold dear to that reminds them of their salvation and why they are faithful, mine is, [Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.]. The Book of Job is actually what brought me a clearer understanding of Christ, and why I dedicated my life to Him. I know I am truly a sinner saved by the grace of God through my faith in Christ alone. I also know that I fail Him every single day, but my dedication to Him brings me to repentance every day as well. I do not have to be perfect, I just need to be faithful, and as long as I do that I know Christ will see me through. Christ is indeed all we need to see us through this life until He brings us home, or returns, [Matthew 11:28-29 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.]

I do not have to tell you just how much life can take a toil on us and derail our rest in Christ. And believe it or not, it often takes turmoil to get us back on track to find that rest in Christ. As long as Satan is alive and we are alive in Christ, we can expect that we are going to suffer no matter how faithful or unfaithful we are to Christ, the suffering is not the same, and there is a difference between faithful and unfaithful suffering. Unfaithful suffering brings no rest at all unless repentance is involved. Faithful suffering brings much more than rest in Christ, it brings peace that passes all understanding, [Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.]

When Satan shot his jealous, hateful, and spiteful darts on Job he just knew that he was going to curse God and walk away from him forever. When taking pretty much everything away from him did not work he took away his health, and when that did not work he turned his friends against him. Job felt no rest at all, he thought God was against him, and even though He knew the way that he took, He was not hearing his pleas. Well, God heard everything, including what all his friends were saying to him. Now, God appears, in a tornado of all things, and is asking him all these questions. The only things Job could say was that he was vile and needed to keep quiet.

[Job 40:1-8 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said, 2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it. 3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. 5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further. 6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?]

[Wilt thou also disannul my judgment?] [Disannul; to make void; to deprive of authority or force; to nullify; to abolish.] God’s judgments do not always have to do with sin, many times they are tests. We can get angry that the wicked are praised and treated better than the righteous, but nothing goes unnoticed with God. Remember, wicked evil is all Satan, and while God does allow him to afflict us, we make the choices we make, not God and not Satan. God is basically asking Job if he thinks that he can do His job better, watch as He describes what it is that He does all day long.

[Job 40:9-14 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? 10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. 11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. 12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. 13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret. 14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.]

[that thine own right hand can save thee.] The honest truth is that if we or Satan had control over the decisions that He makes, everyone would be in hell. And let me tell you, God does not just do something on impulse, He weighs out every matter very carefully. God does not send anyone to hell, and cannot force anyone to do anything, no more than Satan can. The wicked are reprobates, they have turned on God, just like Satan has, there is not hope, no rest for them, and they, along with Satan, will spend an eternity in hell and the lake of fire, [Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.]

What aggravates me to no end, and I am sure that God feels the same way, is when people read His Word and make up their own version of what they believe it says. God’s Word is God’s Word, everything in it is there for a reason, and to question it or change it to what we think it should be would only be to our disadvantage. Many so called Bible scholars question the Book of Job for how He describes these beasts, I for one, since this is God speaking, will take His Word for it over theirs any day. As God continues, He describes one of the most powerful beasts He created, a very large, strong, fish-like, serpent that lives in and out of the water. Many have come to believe it to be a crocodile or whale, but neither of these make sense because He says it breathes smoke. The entire description proves it to be something much greater in strength and size than we have come to know.

[Job 41:10-12,29-34 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me? 11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. 12 I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. 29 Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear. 30 Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire. 31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. 32 He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. 33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. 34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.]

[he is a king over all the children of pride.] I believe the beast is Satan, the Book of Revelation describes Satan as a dragon, and he certainly is king over the children of pride, and it also says God will not conceal his power. The most powerful beast on earth cannot compare to the power of God, even Satan is stopped in his tracks as soon as God gives him the command. God is God, He does not have to explain Himself, but He does through His Word. And what He does not explain He expects us to trust and have a little faith in Him to understand what is going on. Job answers God, [Job 42:1-6 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. 3 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. 4 Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.]

[I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.] [Demand; To ask; to question; to inquire.] Job is not forcing God to hear him, he is simply stating that he will not question Him on things too hard for him to understand. There really are things that we too wonderful for us to understand, meaning, we just cannot comprehend them with our own understanding. That is when we need to trust God and ask Him, not particularly understanding why, rather understanding in how to approach them, [I Peter 4:14-16 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.]

[for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you:] [Rest; Peace; That on which any thing leans or lies for support.] There is that word rest again, we do not have to understand things that we way to wonderful for us, we just simply need to rest upon Christ. The amazing thing about Christ is that suffering does not last for His faithful, there is always an expected end. Not only will we find that peace through the suffering, it will bring others to repentance as well as ourselves for doubting God in the first place. After God spoke to Job, He rebuked the three friends who falsely accused him.

[Job 42:7,10-12 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. 10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. 12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.]

[when he prayed for his friends:] Job was blessed with double of what he lost only after he prayed for his friends. God has so much mercy that even those who speak ignorance about Him have the opportunity to be saved. These were not unbelievers, they just did not know that what they were doing was wrong, so, it is important that we pray for those who unintentionally wrong us. [Luke 17:3-4 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Job 40:19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.]

Today’s Prayer: God, I know that your hand is in everything and I am trusting You to get me through every affliction I face. I admit that often, instead of handing things over to You I get impatient and prolong things with my self pity and unrest. Lord, give me Your power to let go of the fight to try to handle my afflictions on my own and just hand them over to You. Give me patience to wait for You and let me not get weary in serving You. Give me the peace that passes all understanding, just like You have before, and remind me to pray for everyone You place on my mind. Forgive me for any murmuring, complaining, or self pity I have given You. I forgive those who question my faith, and ask You to work on their hearts and show them their err, and Your truths. I love You, and ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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