The Holy One calls to me this morning. Trust has been the subject and issue between the Lord and me for some time. Maybe even longer than my conscious awareness has registered.
His voice pierces the darkness in my room and removes the last sleepy covering off my mind. I hear Him almost proclaim "God trusts His creation!" I cannot help but think, "What a bizarre twist of the trust we have been discussing lately I.E. mine in Him."
The crazy world we live in and the circumstances we have to deal with, are not only upside down, but way too out of control to imagine a potential fix. They seem to be pressing down and onto all believers these days. At every corner and every turn humanity seems to be on a track to do evil and flesh is driving the train. Despair is a knee-jerk reaction for all who hope for a better life.
Since the account of Job has had my attention lately, it's not surprising that the Holy One wants me to return to his story. I have read about the enemy identified as "Satan" and know the part he played in all that Job suffered. Today the Lord calls me to re-read the exchange between God and Satan.
I notice that God initiated the conversation, so I can be assured He understood what was going to happen next. The Eternal One does nothing and allows nothing without knowing what every player in the scenario will do. Our education calls for things that will teach us about ourselves and the Master...things that He already knows.
The first important thing I saw is that Satan is a created being just like the human, but with a little greater power that he must gain permission to exert. That eliminates the feeling of being a "victim" of his evil, so long as I am trusting my God.
Back to the conversation in Job 1:8 NIV. God's assessment of Job was reflected in His delight for Job's heart of reverence. "Have you considered my servant Job? There is none on earth like him. He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil".
God was bragging on His Creation. Job appears to have lived before Israel was a Nation, and before the law that provided for his right standing in God's eyes. In many ways, Job was a man like Adam who, while tempted on earth and not perfect, kept himself above reproach in his flesh life.
The opening statements about Job reveal that he had temptations like "fear" but took his fears to God and by making a sacrifice for his children, he acted as the priest of his household and family. We have no indication that he acted out of anything other than an inward desire to please the Creator God.
We read in Roman 1:20 NIV, that what may be known about God is plain, "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and Divine Nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Job lived in that knowledge and acted according to his faith before the law was introduced.
Job was therefore, a man who, like Abraham, looked up, understood Someone created the Heavens and the earth and lived his life to please that Someone. Even the concept of sacrifice may have been instilled in the hearts of men since the fall and therefore, Job made the sacrifice in his faith accordingly.
For me, today, the most fascinating part of this account is God's "trust" in His creation. God trusted that Job's Divine DNA would hold and prove God's Sovereign wisdom in the creation of man and the free will Job had to worship and love the Creator.
Remembering the rebellion by 1/3 of the Heavenly Host, Satan's game is to alienate the created from the Creator; man from God and God from man.
While the Law and the Prophets teach us how God dealt with a nation, a society of His people, Job reveals a personal one-on-one intimate relationship the Creator looks for with His Beloved.
God's delight in Job, reveals the challenge that evil takes up to defeat God each and every day here on earth through our human trials and tribulations.
As the conversation between God and Satan continues, we can see that Job didn't even know the high stakes that were on his humility in the furnace of his afflictions. God's creative genius and wisdom that speaks in Proverbs 8:30 NIV, was being challenged by Satan through Job's trial.
Personified Wisdom speaks, "I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing in the whole world and delighting in mankind".
Satan's argument suggested that Job was loyal and "feared" God in his reverent life only because of a love for God's temporal blessings. Permission was granted by God to test Job's loyalty to Himself through the obliteration of God's blessings and past His hand of Divine protection.
God's confidence in the man He created was put to the ultimate test. Would job fail and the enemy's accusation be proven right? Or would Job stand firm in his loyalty and vindicate God's delight in him?
Through many agonizing chapters, we read of the pain of his losses and the human assessments of his suffering. Thankfully we who study God's Word have a completed picture of Job's life and struggle.
In a sense we have been given God's perspective and in this instance, we can see and know the end from the beginning. We can even come to understand the bigger picture of the epic struggle between the great (although created) adversary, Satan and God the almighty and all powerful Creator.
God trusted his Beloved Creation and Job through his trial vindicated God's wisdom in our design. God has created humanity for more than the days and experiences we have and focus on here in the temporal lives that we live.
While we have limited knowledge through God's Word, of what lies ahead or of His Eternal plans for man, the challenge Satan puts forth in an effort to destroy us, makes me believe it is so much greater than I can even begin to hope or imagine.
Satan's accusations were very apparently to try to use Job to bring universal humiliation to God and His Creation. Satan, we must remember was created to worship God and in his pride refused. Man now has that privilege and role. Satan was cast out for his rebellion and awaits his final banishment. His obvious goal is to denigrate man, God's created and chosen replacement as worshippers.
This greater understanding of what we are suffering on earth at Satan's hand should give us all hope and courage to persevere.
God's delight is in us
God's vindication is through us
God's restoration is upon us
The devil is defeated when, through the hard times we face on temporal earth, we stand firm in the reverence and worship for our God. Seeing the end from the beginning of Job's life, I know God will restore his Beloved.
In the matter of our Eternity, God already has restored His beloved through His Son, Jesus the Christ, but the personal trials on earth will continue until we depart planet earth.
The real test to Job's life was the delight that God had in him. Keeping his reverence for the Creator, Job learned more about His love. I have to ask myself, "in all my trials, like those of Job, will God be vindicated"?
Worship is the only way, in the furnace of our afflictions, to make sure that His is.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
His voice pierces the darkness in my room and removes the last sleepy covering off my mind. I hear Him almost proclaim "God trusts His creation!" I cannot help but think, "What a bizarre twist of the trust we have been discussing lately I.E. mine in Him."
The crazy world we live in and the circumstances we have to deal with, are not only upside down, but way too out of control to imagine a potential fix. They seem to be pressing down and onto all believers these days. At every corner and every turn humanity seems to be on a track to do evil and flesh is driving the train. Despair is a knee-jerk reaction for all who hope for a better life.
Since the account of Job has had my attention lately, it's not surprising that the Holy One wants me to return to his story. I have read about the enemy identified as "Satan" and know the part he played in all that Job suffered. Today the Lord calls me to re-read the exchange between God and Satan.
I notice that God initiated the conversation, so I can be assured He understood what was going to happen next. The Eternal One does nothing and allows nothing without knowing what every player in the scenario will do. Our education calls for things that will teach us about ourselves and the Master...things that He already knows.
The first important thing I saw is that Satan is a created being just like the human, but with a little greater power that he must gain permission to exert. That eliminates the feeling of being a "victim" of his evil, so long as I am trusting my God.
Back to the conversation in Job 1:8 NIV. God's assessment of Job was reflected in His delight for Job's heart of reverence. "Have you considered my servant Job? There is none on earth like him. He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil".
God was bragging on His Creation. Job appears to have lived before Israel was a Nation, and before the law that provided for his right standing in God's eyes. In many ways, Job was a man like Adam who, while tempted on earth and not perfect, kept himself above reproach in his flesh life.
The opening statements about Job reveal that he had temptations like "fear" but took his fears to God and by making a sacrifice for his children, he acted as the priest of his household and family. We have no indication that he acted out of anything other than an inward desire to please the Creator God.
We read in Roman 1:20 NIV, that what may be known about God is plain, "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and Divine Nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Job lived in that knowledge and acted according to his faith before the law was introduced.
Job was therefore, a man who, like Abraham, looked up, understood Someone created the Heavens and the earth and lived his life to please that Someone. Even the concept of sacrifice may have been instilled in the hearts of men since the fall and therefore, Job made the sacrifice in his faith accordingly.
For me, today, the most fascinating part of this account is God's "trust" in His creation. God trusted that Job's Divine DNA would hold and prove God's Sovereign wisdom in the creation of man and the free will Job had to worship and love the Creator.
Remembering the rebellion by 1/3 of the Heavenly Host, Satan's game is to alienate the created from the Creator; man from God and God from man.
While the Law and the Prophets teach us how God dealt with a nation, a society of His people, Job reveals a personal one-on-one intimate relationship the Creator looks for with His Beloved.
God's delight in Job, reveals the challenge that evil takes up to defeat God each and every day here on earth through our human trials and tribulations.
As the conversation between God and Satan continues, we can see that Job didn't even know the high stakes that were on his humility in the furnace of his afflictions. God's creative genius and wisdom that speaks in Proverbs 8:30 NIV, was being challenged by Satan through Job's trial.
Personified Wisdom speaks, "I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing in the whole world and delighting in mankind".
Satan's argument suggested that Job was loyal and "feared" God in his reverent life only because of a love for God's temporal blessings. Permission was granted by God to test Job's loyalty to Himself through the obliteration of God's blessings and past His hand of Divine protection.
God's confidence in the man He created was put to the ultimate test. Would job fail and the enemy's accusation be proven right? Or would Job stand firm in his loyalty and vindicate God's delight in him?
Through many agonizing chapters, we read of the pain of his losses and the human assessments of his suffering. Thankfully we who study God's Word have a completed picture of Job's life and struggle.
In a sense we have been given God's perspective and in this instance, we can see and know the end from the beginning. We can even come to understand the bigger picture of the epic struggle between the great (although created) adversary, Satan and God the almighty and all powerful Creator.
God trusted his Beloved Creation and Job through his trial vindicated God's wisdom in our design. God has created humanity for more than the days and experiences we have and focus on here in the temporal lives that we live.
While we have limited knowledge through God's Word, of what lies ahead or of His Eternal plans for man, the challenge Satan puts forth in an effort to destroy us, makes me believe it is so much greater than I can even begin to hope or imagine.
Satan's accusations were very apparently to try to use Job to bring universal humiliation to God and His Creation. Satan, we must remember was created to worship God and in his pride refused. Man now has that privilege and role. Satan was cast out for his rebellion and awaits his final banishment. His obvious goal is to denigrate man, God's created and chosen replacement as worshippers.
This greater understanding of what we are suffering on earth at Satan's hand should give us all hope and courage to persevere.
God's delight is in us
God's vindication is through us
God's restoration is upon us
The devil is defeated when, through the hard times we face on temporal earth, we stand firm in the reverence and worship for our God. Seeing the end from the beginning of Job's life, I know God will restore his Beloved.
In the matter of our Eternity, God already has restored His beloved through His Son, Jesus the Christ, but the personal trials on earth will continue until we depart planet earth.
The real test to Job's life was the delight that God had in him. Keeping his reverence for the Creator, Job learned more about His love. I have to ask myself, "in all my trials, like those of Job, will God be vindicated"?
Worship is the only way, in the furnace of our afflictions, to make sure that His is.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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