Good Morning Wednesday...
Thank you Father for the blessing of this NEW day. Please continue to fill our HEARTS AND MINDS with Your TRUTH AND LOVE so we STAY FOCUSED DURING the TRIALS of TODAY. Abba, during this time of Elul, and everyday, we ask you to help us to SEE our SINs, REPENT from them, CONFESS them, AND BE CLEANSED by Your Mighty Right Hand. IN YESHUA, JESUS CHRIST’s Mighty Name we ask these things Father. AMEN! - The 40 Days of Elul (Day 4): Trials With Job - Part 2 - God Our Father Is Sovereign “One day the angels came to present themselves before The LORD (YHVH, Yahweh), and satan also came with them. The LORD (YHVH , Yahweh) said to satan, “Where have you come from?” satan answered The LORD (YHVH, Yahweh), “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” Then The LORD (YHVH, Yahweh) said to satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” satan replied. “Have You not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out Your Hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse You to Your Face.” The LORD (YHVH, Yahweh) said to satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then satan went out from the presence of The LORD (YHVH, Yahweh).” Job 1:6-12 NIV So now we have established that Job was blessed, upright, and just. He did the right thing, taught his children and those around him the right thing, by doing it himself, and was, as God’s Word puts it “the greatest man among all the people of the East.” Now it is time to meet two more characters in this story of blessing, tragedy, testing, and triumph… The Producer, Director, and Our Father, God Almighty, and the enemy satan. Immediately following the opening of the story and the introduction of Job, we cut to heaven and God’s Office or Throne Room (my imagination, the scripture does not state the location.) Our Father calls his servants in and guess who comes strolling in with them… satan. Guess what he does? He starts accusing (pretty predictable given that satan’s name means “accuser”). Our Father asks him where he has been, as if He didn’t already know, and satan gives an answer equivalent to “oh, just traveling around the earth and going back and forth in it.” You see, the enemy had been roaming around looking for someone to accuse, and as we talked about, whose “Light” was shining all bright on the the earth just waiting to get noticed? You guessed it…Job. Obviously God knew what satan had been doing, what he was about to do, and being the no nonsense King of The Universe that He Is, He gets right to business and asks satan: “Have you considered My servant Job?” Now at this point one might ask: “Why would God highlight Job for satan to accuse? Well, just like when we go to specialist to get a job done right, Our Father knew Job was the right man for this job… The Job for the job. Job’s specialty? Righteousness, blamelessness, and faithfulness, as we read yesterday. God Our Father was about to show satan, and everyone who reads The Bible, a thing or two about faithfulness and His servant Job was going to be the conduit to show that faithfulness. After all, who do you send into action during the championship moment? Your best player. Needless to say, the enemy jumped at the chance to accuse Job. Satan chooses to tempt Our Father, questioning Job’s loyalty, saying it is only because of God’s Blessing and Goodness that Job is faithful. But… satan isn’t dealing with Adam and Eve this time. Our Father doesn’t eat that kind of fruit and, He can’t be tempted to make the wrong decision. The enemy goes on to say that Job would certainly not be faithful without God’s Blessings and if God were to stretch out His Hand and strike all of What Job has, he would “certainly” curse God “to His Face.” Paraphrasing, God says: “Go ahead and test My servant and see what happens, but… don’t you lay a finger on him.” The enemy heads out to attack. The following conflict in The Book of Job leaves us to struggle with the question: Why? Why does God allow His servant to struggle? Why is there suffering? Is God the one who causes it? Why does Job deserve this? And the final and biggest why of all… why is evil allowed? We will indeed look at those questions, but for today let’s finish this scene. Notice, the enemy had to ask for permission before going after Job. God Our Father Is Sovereign. God Our Father Makes The Rules. God Our Father Immediately Draws The Line and Boundaries. Up until this point, it seems Our Father’s Covering is over Job. Even though Our Father is about to allow the enemy to tempt Job, it is important to remember this verse when looking at Job’s story: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” I Corinthians 10:13 NKJV You see, in the big scheme of things, there really is no battle between good and evil. There is no force in existence as powerful and Almighty as God Our Father. Remember, the battle is already won and it belongs to Our Father. Our Savior doesn’t declare “It Is Finished” (John 19:30) for nothing. There is El Shaddai, God Almighty, and then everything else. Everyone has to answer to The Sovereign King, and Our Father is just that… All Power Is His. Evidence of this is right here in Job when the enemy has to ask permission for the coming temptation. Whether we choose to be frustrated or comforted by The Truth of The Book of Job, or both, it is important to realize nothing comes into our lives without God Our Father allowing it. He is… “where the buck stops” and He Is… ALWAYS guarding us whether we choose to believe it or not. It may frustrate some of us because we don’t have The Mind of God to understand all His Ways, or His Purpose for us in pain, but you can bet your Life on it… His Good Purpose Will Prevail. Job didn’t have a clue about what was about to happen. He was just living his Life when everything around him started to fall apart. When we go through tough times, it is usually the same. Knowing, believing, and trusting that God Our Father Is Sovereign Above All Is A Powerful Truth. Before the enemy strolls into God Our Father’s Office, before the pain, accusations, torment, and redemption found in The Book of Job, Our Father makes sure we understand who is in complete control… Him. Not only is this a Life changing realization, but to those who believe, it is extremely comforting to know that even in the worst of our Life’s calamities, God Our Father knows what is happening, He Is In Control, He Is Watching us, and He will not allow us to be tempted past what He Knows we can handle. Even in the darkest of our days He Tells us… “I Am With You… ALWAYS. (Matthew 28:20)” Prayer: Father God, thank You for being Sovereign, All-Powerful, and most of all thank you for being Our Protector and Redeemer. Help us to understand Your Plan of Salvation, Your Sovereignty, Your Wisdom, and help us to have Your Peace in that Father. You are The God Who Sees Us (Genesis 16:13), El Roi, and we thank You for Loving us… First. We thank you for Always being with us. And finally Father, we thank You for winning our battles, because they belong to You. Bless You Father. We ask these things and pray in The Name Above All Names, Yeshua, Jesus Christ. Amen. Extra Thoughts During Elul: According to tradition, The Month of Elul was the time that Moses spent on Mt. Sinai getting ready to descend with the second set of tablets containing the Ten Commandments, after he broke the first set when he saw the Israelite people worshiping a golden calf. During this time, Moses prayed to God to forgive the people for this infidelity and to establish a new covenant with this imperfect people. This was the first act of teshuvah (repentance, “turning back to God”), of making an effort to turn away from our baser selves, and to turn toward our best and most godly selves. “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. He feeds his flock among the lilies.” Song of Solomon 6:3
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SERVANT OF YESHUA 7
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