Study of Job

Job is the oldest book of the Bible and quite possibly the most remarkable in that Job speaks profound truth in man's position to God. He even goes to state facts about an upcoming savior, foreshadowing Jesus Christ's incarnation as man to take on the brutal punishment on that cross for our sakes. I've caught the smell of this enticing meal some time ago and even preached on it-- the fact that Satan had a blatant disregard for respecting God and God seeking to make Job Satan's aim.

Two very excellent initial words help in understanding more about this passage and the work of God vs. the work of Satan. Sum and Suk. The idea of Sum is the idea of setting one's heart after something. God asked Satan if he set his heart against Job, if he sought to attack him directly. God throws Job in the cross-fire. Now how Satan responds helps to identify how much he truly didn't understand about God and a man after God's heart in righteousness.

Satan says that God has put a hedge about him or Suk. What this implies is that God made it to where Job could not sin. Satan has some sort of concept that the only reason Job follows God is because God has protected him from sinning. However, Satan realizes after the ordeal that his philosophy was wrong! Very wrong!

This is a dangerous concept to consider because we can think to ourselves that we may be faithful enough in our walk with God to withstand Satan's very heart against us, his desire to destroy us and bring us to our knees. Satan was still figuring out the human being at this time, but I'm certain that throughout the time that he has been on this earth seeking whom he may devour, he has figured us out... for the most part.

Satan knows he doesn't have to attack me with drugs, alcohol, or even porn right now. It doesn't matter to him, but if he knows that he can get me through my little gods, causing me to be dormant in Christ, he has won. Am I as faithful as Job to withstand such an attack against me? I don't know; however, the true Christian would seek to withstand everything through faith in the Lord.

Maybe you are getting the point now. My whole foundation of all my faith, following, and works in Christ are based upon Proverbs 3:5-6. Once you can grasp this concept, along with the greatest commandment (I'll let you try to figure that one out), you'll come to understand how much better your walk with Christ can become.

I'll end with this. There is a place in Indiana called Turkey Run National Park. There they have trails and canoeing. On the maps they have drawn out all the trails with the difficulty next to them. The least difficulty is a pretty cool trail and pretty awe-inspiring. However, there are more difficult trails that require ladders and climbing along the side of the walls of the gorge. These trails are difficult but yet they are far more beautiful then the easier ones. I went on a trail in China, much harder then the ones in Turkey Run, at Tiger Leaping Gorge. It was the hardest trail I have ever seen and it took two days to complete. We stayed the night at a neat hotel along the cliff of the gorge. The windows revealed the view of Dragon Snow Mountain. That trail was the most beautiful thing I had ever been on. It was far more difficult, but that much far more beautiful. Do you want to take that easy route through life, or do you want to follow the call for the most beautiful experience ever? God lets you choose.

God's Provision

Take into consideration that sitting in my checking account right now is literally 9 cents. Also take into account the very fact that the cafeteria is charging students who are still here for their meals. Take into account the fact that I haven't gotten paid in over a month and a half. Take into account that I've been scrounging up pennies, receiving blessings from friends, and most of all relying on God to take care of me. Right now I'm experiencing what it is like to live without luxuries and coming to the point of realizing that much of the stuff I thought I needed I don't.

This picture represents my dinner tonight. It cost 1 dollar but if you know something about not having money, not having 1 dollar even means not being able to purchase something that is indeed 1 dollar. Nothing-- what I have, yet God still provides. Can I tell you that for some odd, unexplainable reason I felt that I needed to leave the school and travel to work an hour early. I thought to myself, I'll just get there and get a drink (which is free) and chill before work.

I walk in, so hungry, and hang my coat and glasses up. One of the guys is sitting at the table and asks me how I'm doing. We chat for a little and he found out I was an hour early. He asked me if I came in to eat and I said no, I don't have any money. He reached into his wallet and pulled out a dollar and said, here, you can use this. I was blown away. I was so thankful and received a dinner for the night all at the provision of this guy who was just sitting in there. After I walked out to get my food, I saw him walk out and he left the building. If I had waited, I wouldn't have been able to eat before work.

I know that at anytime my parents can and will provide for me. They have and still do; however, I wanted to rely on God and see what He'd do. Not only did He get me out of debt with that gracious person about a week ago, but He has provided me with meals all throughout this week. I have not gone hungry once.

I implore you, you can't have no faith in God and expect to receive something. There is the illustration of the two farmers during the drought. They both pray for rain yet only one of them prepares the field for planting. Then it rains. Tell me, which farmer had faith that God would make it rain? Even more, tell me, which Christian has faith that God will provide? The one who is upset because God hasn't, or the one that states He will and prepares to receive it.

So many times we put God in a box with human limitations. Don't you know that in the Old Testament the woman was told to collect pots to pour oil in? She need only have faith. The Bible states that as soon as she filled the last one, it stopped pouring. Now tell me, if after this event, what would you think??? Man! I should have gotten more pots! She maybe got a few from neighbors, but as much faith as she could have put into it, she could have that much more.

You get what you put into your relationship with God. If you treat Him like garbage, a magical genie, or a mean father; you will fail to see Him for what He truly is. If He is a priority to you, not an option; He will be the best priority you have ever set forth in your life. No one likes just being an option in life. No one likes just being used for whatever reasons. If we truly care and love someone, we will MAKE them a priority and that goes for our relationship with God. We will MAKE time to talk to Him, listen to Him, and walk with Him. We can't just expect it to happen. We should pursue God to our fullest. Have faith in Him. Otherwise we are just sitting back with our other gods and when they fail us we come back to Him because He was faithful to us from the start. What kind of relationship is that??? It's a hurtful relationship that means nothing and has nothing in it. It causes emotional damage, stress, and sadness. It makes the worth of someone feel close to nothing. Don't you think this is how we make our God feel sometimes?

When He asked us to love Him with all our hearts, mind, and soul, He was asking for total commitment and faith that He will do what's best for us and love Him no matter what we may perceive. In the long run, it's all for us. And we should be all about Him. We need to spend less time lifting ourselves up and lift Him up so He can lift us up to where we can lift Him up even more. It continues on and on and on. So now I lift Him up to you.

You can find whatever belief you want based upon perceptions of disappointment, in-content, and lack of faith. When it comes right down to it, He has already made the provision for all of us if only we'd believe on Him. I beg you, have faith in God, He WILL provide. He WILL be there when the time is right. It may not be when you plan it or the way you'd see it. I was never expecting money in my mail-box nor a plate full of food tonight; however, I knew that my God provides. And He can provide for you too. Don't be separate from God anymore. Let Him be your ultimate provision.

The Virtuous Woman

I'm not a perfect person... I never claimed to be; however, I try to follow Christ to the best of my ability. I don't have one friend around here who knows me beyond what only they can perceive, as of right now. I don't have a friend that can truly speak on my accord and I intend on keeping everything to myself. There isn't one person on this campus that can properly assess my character. People that I know to be friends are indeed friends, but they haven't searched my heart and have no right to say they know my heart.

My heart's intention is to follow Christ 100%. Through thick and thin I will follow Him and His will. I'm now content, once again, with being a single minister for the cause of Christ. My contentment is found in Christ alone and not in man. I've been trying to seek hope from man when it should have been from God. If I ever were to give up my plans to be a single minister, the qualifications for my future wife would be quite a bit. You may ask me why I demand so much but I believe God wants the best for all of us. I believe that I should settle for only the best because that is who exactly I would need to be a part of my life in this call that I have. I recently came across this...

The story of the martyrdom of Peter and his wife is found
in the pages of The History of the Church, written by Eusebius,
a bishop in the Holy Land during the first decades of the 300s.
In it he quotes from a much earlier source, Miscellanies (Book
VII), written by Clement of Alexandria (circa A.D. 150–215).

This work describes how Peter’s wife suffered martyrdom just
before him:
We are told that when blessed Peter saw his
wife led away to death, he was glad that her
call had come and that she was returning
home, and spoke to her in the most encouraging
and comforting way, addressing her by
name:“My dear, remember the Lord.” Such was
the marriage of the blessed, and their consummate
feeling towards their dearest.

St. Peter's wife died on a cross, crucified for her beliefs. Any girl here reading this, you want a Godly guy? This is your goal. Be so faithful and trusting to the Lord that you would take crucifixion for His name's sake. Glorify your God sooo much that your future husband would be in awe of your faith. This is the kind of wife I want. A selfless, humble, woman of Christ searching His heart daily. Unfortunately, in this world today, we don't see this much anymore... and it's a shame.

I will be the first to admit when I'm wrong and have sinned and fallen short. I will cherish my future wife as a treasure above no other. I will never hit her or make her feel less then what she is-- a glorious created woman in Christ. I would be HAPPY to wash the dishes, fold the laundry, cook, clean, etc. for my wife. She will be my blessing and love through Christ. I'll never feed her with lies and always walk beside her to lift her up. I will expect her to be more then just a "Pastor's Wife" but a working woman in Christ. I would LOVE to sacrifice my time to take care of our children. I would be content for her to never have to wear make-up, never have to dress-up, and never have to over act who she really is-- herself... a woman seeking God every single day.

A woman who beams the gloriousness of Christ from the inside can only project a love that I can find appealing. It may not matter if she feels she may be too ugly, too fat, too dumb, etc. As long as she's that kind of faithful servant, I would give anything and everything I had to find her.

As of right now, I'm a single minister following my Lord's heart. I'm a nobody, trying to tell someone about Somebody who can change their life.

System of a PRAISE!

I can't help but spread this and I just want this person to know that I thank them soo much. This person did something ridiculously out of the norm and provided something that they may not have known how much it affected me.

I've been struggling with finances quite a bit lately. It's no mystery that I was out of a job for around a month. As long as I kept track of things, I could get by with my parents sending me money now and again. I know it's difficult for them and I don't like asking for money at all. It isn't a sense of pride at all but a sense of humility in that I don't think I should ask someone for some help when I don't deserve it. Just recently my bank accounts started to have problems. With my Bank of America account, a gas purchase that I did one month ago FINALLY went through. This put me below what I had in my account and I accrued a 35 dollar fine. So my account there sat at -44.79 or something like that. My Regions account had a fraudulent charge from an online company and I got it canceled only to find out I couldn't get a refund. My account there sat at -11.00 for one day. If I didn't find a way to get something over that amount in there, I would accrue another 33.00 dollar fine.

Now I have my truck payment coming up soon and I will only get around 17 hours this week plus tip sharing. That would average out to be enough for my truck payment but not enough to do anything more with it. Next month I have a Sallie Mae student loan payment due and I didn't think I'd get all my financial stuff sorted out in time for that payment. Not only that, but when we had our missions conference, God laid it on my heart to promise 10 bucks every week. I signed the card and turned it in at that time with no hope of a job but personally knowing that if our God is as big as we say He is; as faithful, then He'll provide.

Over Alumni Days a guy named Jeremy sat across the table from me and we started talking. He started talking about how I needed to see a movie and then handed me 10 bucks. I found it more profitable to instead use it as my Faith Promise (I know, but I wanted to stay committed to God's goal for me). This next week, I had no clue how I was going to put that amount in the offering. A couple of nights ago I laid in my bed after I called the company to cancel my subscription to whatever was filled out with my info. That inner voice that always taunted me began talking about the situation I was in, offering all the facts and problems that were mounting up. I then just audibly spoke up and said, "Shut up! Just shut up! God will provide! I have faith!" That thing shut up and I fell right to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and went to my mailbox and got some assignments I turned in. One of which was a Missions Conference project. I got an "A" on it and the professor wrote that he'd like to keep it (I also designed a shirt to go with it). I was pretty thrilled about that. After my first class I went back to my box to check to see if my Book of Mormon or Boy Meets Girl came in. I found a paper with the list of graduation requirements and went to my second class. Graduation is soooo close and it's frightening yet awesome all at once. Before chapel I went to my box again (Yeah, I check it all the time if I'm expecting something). Someone put an envelop in my box and I took it out and it simply just had my name on it.

I went to chapel and opened the envelope... let's just say that someone graciously decided to follow the will of God and put quite a few 20's in it. I said to myself, "You're kidding me, right?" I looked in it again... the same amount... no card or anything that would let me know who it was from. I clinched my teeth together and then I started silently crying right there in that auditorium. I walked out and went to the bathroom and started balling my head off and praising God. All throughout our songs, I couldn't concentrate on singing them at all... I just stood there with tears streaming down my face.

The debt from my Regions account was paid before the fine went through. The Bank of America debt was paid off. And I had enough left over to just keep in my account except for 10-- my Faith Promise Missions. That inner voice hasn't said anything since. Even while writing this I still gather tears.

Today, I woke up with strep throat. I needed some medicine bad, so after I saw the nurse I went and got some. That person gave me enough to cover the medication too and a bottle of orange juice. I still have enough for gas to get to church on Sunday.

I recall that little card that someone gave me with my now life verses on them-- Proverbs 3:5-6. They said they simply prayed for me that day. Little did they know that I was struggling with my faith in God at that time period. I don't know if this person knew what I was going through... but there was no way they'd possibly know it would be enough to cover medication and gas and my Faith Promise Missions. Whoever these people are, they follow the guiding of the Spirit when it may seem unreasonable at times. What they will find though, is that God knows what He's doing.

I wrote this to give praise and glorify God, I wrote this to thank whoever did this, and I wrote this to encourage you... "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." Thank you, and God bless.